


The Elementals- Origin Stories

by DarlingCloseYourEyes



Series: The Elementals [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternative Universe- Super Powers, Anal Sex, Blow Job, Dirty Talk, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Everyone will stay together, F/M, Hand Job, High School, M/M, Mutual Pining, No angst among the losers, No snakes in my garden, Nobody will forget, Rimming, Senior year, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, elemental powers, georgie is dead, lets see if I have time for that, maybe some kinky shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-06-30 22:58:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15761448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarlingCloseYourEyes/pseuds/DarlingCloseYourEyes
Summary: It had to be all of them. All of the losers had to be present in order for the strange things to start happening.First, it was a predatory clown from hell. The next supernatural chapter of their lives actually resulted in something… good. It was a few years after the showdown in the sewers, and it didn’t happen all at once. It happened over the course of a month.Super power AU





	1. Bill's

It had to be all of them. All of the losers had to be present in order for the strange things to start happening.

First, it was a predatory clown from hell. The next supernatural chapter of their lives actually resulted in something… good. It was a few years after the showdown in the sewers, and it didn’t happen all at once. It happened over the course of a month.

September 25, 1994

Richie was growing restless after a half hour of waiting for Ben and Mike. They said they would meet the rest of the losers after they stopped at the library to exchange whatever they picked up this week. Eddie could see Richie’s lanky legs hanging over the edge of the cliff, tapping the surface with his heel in small quick movements. Eddie sat two feet away from the drop, knowing their trashmouth would most definitely get rowdy and he would end up falling in before the others arrived.

“So”, Richie exhaled, clapping his hands together, “if you could domesticate any animal, what would you chose to have as a pet?”

Eddie rolled his eyes at the question, but started pondering it anyway. Richie saw Bill tap his chin in contemplation. Stan could or could not have heard the question judging by the lack of reaction. He maintained his poker face angled towards the trees, watching for birds.

Eddie furrowed his brow and bit his bottom lip, which he does when ever he is concentrating on something. Richie had to consciously restrain himself from kissing every inch of the small boy’s face. He wanted to snuggle up next to him and run his fingers through that silky hair, but it was 90 degrees outside and Eddie would probably bat him away, complaining that he is getting sweat all over him. Richie and Bill had already shed theirs shirts in a meager attempt to not overheat.

“I know!” Bev sat up where she was laying in the grass, “I would have a Koala. I would move somewhere warm, plant a eucalyptus tree in my backyard and we would be best friends”, she stated matter-of-factly. “His name would be Kevin.”

Eddie wretched, “Koalas are riddled with syphilis, your pet is going to give you an STD.”

Bev shrugged, “I’ll wear protection.” Richie laughed at her nonchalance.

“Syphilis is not something that Koalas originally possessed, they contracted it from another species”, Eddie continued spouting knowledge.

“Whoa” trashmouth wiggled his eyebrows at Eddie, “a human definitely fucked a koala.”

“It wasn’t Kevin”, Bev assured, “he is as pure as the virgin mary”, she held one hand out and the other across her chest like she was swearing on a bible.

“Yeah, yeah. We all know you like them pure and sweet”, Richie teased. Bev swatted his arm and tried to suppress her blush. To bad Ben wasn’t around to see it. He is the most respectful being to ever exist. Richie thinks its stopping him from making a move on Bev, their friendship is too important. Richie made a note to encourage Ben into asking her out later, because watching them pine after each other has gone unaddressed long enough.

“I’d have a phoenix,” Stan threw in.

“Well, I do-”, Richie began but Stan was quick, “you didn’t say it had to be real.” Richie nodded, satisfied with his answer and threw his hands up in defeat.

Bill started playing with the grass around his legs, “I’d have a bat. I want to buy a big house, not too close to other property, with a big staircase in the front hall as soon as you enter. There will be poor lighting and big portraits on the wall, the ones where the eyes follow you. So I’ll invite people over and as they come in, I’ll walk down the steps and my bats will circle me and screech. I could scare so many people.” Bill smiled at the thought.

At Bill’s answer, Eddie started singing the Adam West Batman television theme song under his breath and Richie thought it was the cutest thing he’s ever seen. He scooched closer and threw his arm around Eddie. Consequences be damned.

“Gothic” Richie nodded at Bill approvingly. Before Eddie could shake him off, Richie turned to him, their faces inches apart, and caught his eye. “What about you Eds?” Eddie peered up at him, taking a moment to look at Richie’s freckles. He thinks for the millionth time, how puberty did Richie wonders. Of course, Eddie liked him back when he had big front teeth, a baby face, and no comedic timing. Now, he was actually pretty funny… and _attractive_ . Dark hair, sharp jaw and long legs.

Eddie broke the stare first, looking at the legs he was just thinking about. Richie’s red swimming trunks are ones he has had for a while, because he wasn’t grown horizontally. Vertically though, he shot up to 6’3, leaving the shorts to fall just above the center of his thighs. Eddie licked his lips unconsciously, making Richie’s breath catch.

Eddie shook himself out of the trance. “Well I certainly wouldn’t want a spider monkey, I’ve already got you” he said pushing Richie’s arm off of his shoulders. 

Richie feigned confusion, “I’m like a spider monkey? Oh, do you mean like this?” He curled all four of his lanky limbs around Eddie’s body and nuzzled his head into the others neck. Eddie started laughing at the movement on his neck and thrashed to get free of the hold he was in. His struggling made him roll backwards, Richie laying on his side.

“RICHARD TOZIER! I DON’T WANT A LEECH EITHER!” he continued his attempts to break free but Richie was like a vice around him.

“Oh baby”, Richie purred in his ear, “I can certainly _suck_ like a leech, just say the word and I’ll show you,” his breathe tickling the smaller boy’s ear. Arousal struck Eddie hard, he was so caught off guard he hid his face in Richie’s chest to try to recover from his immediate reaction. Richie’s body instantly relaxed around him and he started rubbing circles on his back. Not in a sexual way, which Richie’s touches usually are, it felt… affectionate.

They heard bikes pulling up to their spot in the quarry. Mike surveyed the scene and laughed out loud at Eddie and Richie’s position, “at least they’re not arguing,” he addressed the rest of the losers and it elicited happy laughs from everyone. Mike can always ease the tension in the group, it was a talent.

Richie moved Eddie’s head back to see him properly and grinned wide, “I’d have a penguin.” They both laughed and sat up to join the others.

The arriving losers were quick to set their bikes aside and start removing their clothes to jump in the water. “Okay,” Mike beamed, “who jumps first?” They all eyed each other, not necessarily in fear, but it curiosity.

“Well we all know who will be last,” Richie smirked at Stan.

Stan glared back, crossing his arms over his chest in a proud manner. “Screw you Tozier. You don’t know anything.” Richie raised his eyebrows at Stan, like he was expecting that answer, but they both knew it was true. Stan huffed and gracefully turned on his heel. He walked over to the cliff and eyed the water below. The confidence in his face faded, and he was grateful he was turned so none of his friends could see it.

“I can hold your hand if you want Stan the man,” Richie chimed in. No longer teasing, but actually offering.

“No, I can do this,” Stan grumbled to himself. He took one step closer and bent lower in preparation to jump. Before he could extend his legs to get the distance that he needed from the cliffs edge, his foot slipped. The losers saw Stan go over the edge but scape his back and wack his head on the way down. There was an unsettling _*thump*_ .

There were scattered cries of _“Stan!”_ lost in the wind as the losers raced to the edge. Bill had managed to dive off the cliff before Stan even hit the water. Eddie watched both of their bodies hit the surface, Stan with a splat, and Bill... _did the water just… cradle his fall?_ Eddie shook the thought away quickly.

Bill, underwater, swam over to Stan and wrapped him in his arms bridal style. He kicked up until they broke the surface. Bill took a gasp for air and internally panicked when he heard he was the only one to do so. He looked down at Stan, and brought a hand up to his neck to feel for a pulse while he examined his face. Pale, but Stan is usually pale, and no sign of consciousness. He sighed in relief when he felt a pulse beating under his fingertips. “Stan?”, he inquired quietly, “Stan, please wake up… I need you to wake up.”

Bill jostled Stan slightly and scanned for a response. He could hear the other losers swimming frantically behind him. _Wait… what?_ He felt his feet touch sand and looked up to see that he was ten feet from the shore, about fifty yards from the bottom of the cliff, which is where he thought he was. _I must have been swimming and not realized it._ Bill didn’t dwell on it as he walked to place Stan carefully on the sand. A few moments later he heard the other losers crash to the shore, panting and yelling questions about Stan’s condition. Bill didn’t turn and held Stan’s hand tightly, unsure of what to do.

The others surrounded them and it was Ben to speak first, “does he have an open wound?” he carefully lifted up Stan’s head as he spoke and brushed his fingers systematically around the back of his head. “No,” Ben sighed but the worried look didn’t leave his face.

“He has water in his lungs,” Bill stated.

“He wasn’t in the water very long before you got to him, I don’t thi-” Eddie started.

“There is water in his lungs,” Bill cut him off.

He wasn’t sure why he thought that so clearly, but it felt like a fact to him. He placed his unoccupied hand onto Stan’s chest and immediately water shot out of Stan’s mouth about two inches high. It fell back in his face so Bill was quick to roll him over as he sputtered and coughed to try to clear his lungs. He took a couple deeps breaths and turned his head to look at Bill, who still had a firm grasp on his hand.

“What happened?”, he inquired.

“You hit your head jumping into the quarry and we got you to shore. There isn’t an open cut on your head but…” Bill glanced at Stan’s back and saw long scrapes from where he made contact with the cliff’s edge, “you scraped your back up pretty good.”

“Oh”, Stan made a move to try to sit up and Bill helped him.

After a moment Bill looked up to see Bev’s face, mouth open in shock, staring at him. Upon looking around he noted the other losers dawning similar expressions.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Uh Bill…” Bev cleared her throat, “we didn’t save Stan, you did… and we saw some weird stuff while you were doing it.” Bill would be concerned but Bev’s face didn’t looked shocked anymore, just curious.

“What weird stuff?”

“When you jumped in the water like… _caught_ you”, Eddie breathed.

“And when you were holding Stan it didn’t look like you were swimming. It looked like the tide was pushing you towards the shore,” Mike added.

“What?” Bill puzzled, “there’s no tide in the quarry.” “Exactly,” Mike agreed nodding his head.

“Then when you touched Stan, water shot out of his face,” Richie said in awe, “it looked like you _willed_ it out.” Bill blinked very confused. After a moment of silence he shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t know what the hell was going on either.

Stan, still pretty out of it, whined “my head hurts, my back hurts and I am covered in wet sand!” His eyes became blurry with tears and he tried to wipe the sand off of himself. Eddie moved behind him to carefully brush of the sand that was touching the scratches on his back. Bill hesitated for a second after having an idea. He mentally threw his hands up and thought, _what the hell_.

He raised his hand towards Stan and narrowed his eyes in concentration. He focused on the wet sand, wanting it to remove itself from him. In a matter of seconds, all of the water on Stan’s body and some of the sand was wicked off. Stan looked at him with big inquisitive eyes.

It seemed to last for minutes, staring at each other, unsure of what to make of what just happened. Stan finally whispered “can you dry my hair?” Disbelief still dancing behind his features. Bill opened his mouth to say something and thought better of it. He moved his hand to point towards Stan’s head and concentrated again. This time, just on the water. Drops pulled out from Stan’s hair and fell to the sand around him, leaving it dry and curly.

There was another long pause as everyone just took in what Bill just did.

“Can you make it rain?” Richie asked. Bill again didn’t respond and tried to concentrate on what he was asked. No rain started to fall so he turned and shook his head at Richie.

Bev jogged over to grab a bottle that was littered on the shore of the quarry and bounded back, “can you fill this with water.” Bill concentrated on filling the bottle, and it remained empty. Bev was about to get up to the throw the bottle away when Eddie reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Wait… can you try to put some of that water,” he gestured to the quarry water, “in here?”

Bill raised his eyebrows at the different approach, but tried nonetheless. He pointed his hands towards the shore and concentrated on moving about a bottles worth of the water lapping on the sand. Sure enough, a fraction of the water rose above the rest and moved its way from the shore towards Bev. It was a slow process and Bill started to have a headache with how hard he was concentrating, but it got to her. Unfortunately, it didn’t maneuver itself quite the way Bill wanted and some of it splashed around Bev’s hand instead of landing in the bottle.

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.

Trashmouth broke the silence, “holy. Fucking. shit.”


	2. Ben's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I know Avatar didn't exist in 1994, but fuck it.)
> 
> We must protect Ben at all costs. Thats it.

September 29, 1994

The losers found themselves chilling in the Barrens in a small clearing a ways down that they dubbed as their own. It being relatively small in size and well hidden in the trees, it is always available to them and they like to hang out there on sunny days; laying out and having a picnic, listening to music, reading, chatting, or whatever else they want to do.

Stan was sitting on the bench, binoculars in hand and notebook open on his lap, making sure he was ready to jot down whatever bird that flies by. Bill was on the other end of the bench, leaning his back against the arm rest. There was a notebook on his lap as well and he was writing a story for his creative writing class. If he happened to be facing Stan and caught himself staring at the curly haired boy a couple times, it was purely accidental.

Richie and Eddie were laying on a blanket in the grass, side by side. They each had a stack of comic books in front of them that the other brought and they were sifting through each others recommendations. Eddie reeked of bug spray, but Richie found that he didn’t mind. He actually thought it was kind of cute how much Eddie detested getting bitten. _Literally, anything this boy does I will find cute_. Richie shook his head at how whipped he was. Soon, he promised himself, _I will ask him to date me soon… but now. I’m too nervous right now_. They both had their legs bent, feet up in the air. While they were reading they unconsciously tapped their legs together.

Mike thought it was fucking adorable. He was sitting in a folding chair that he brought, facing himself toward the rest of the losers. He set down the book he was reading to pull out his camera and snap a quick picture of the two boys laying together. Mike smiled at the moment, knowing they will probably go back to arguing any minute now. He picked up the radio that was next to his chair and scanned around the stations for a bit, settling on one playing soft rock. He relaxed in his chair and went back to reading his book.

On the other blanket, Ben and Bev were laying shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the sky. Ben had brought a book with him as well, but abandoned it to have a conversation with Beverly instead. He found the girl utterly enchanting.

“I’m gonna get out of here one day. I think I want to go to a big city and try my hand as designing clothes,” Bev thought out loud. Ben turned to see her beaming. He knew she was constantly sewing, cutting and altering clothing pieces that she wasn’t satisfied with, and made articles from scratch, everything he saw he was pretty impressed with. He smiled at how passionate she was about something she loves doing.

“You will excel Bev. You are smart and you are talented, you can do whatever you set your mind on. I feel bad for the people who are accidentally going to get in your way,” Ben joked. Bev chuckled and put her hands over her face to try to cover the blush that she just _knew_ she was sporting right now. Beverly never cared about getting the attention of any boy before, but with Ben, she didn’t just want his attention, she wanted to impress him. She wanted him to like her. Other people tell her she is a badass, doing what makes her happy and standing up for what she believes in, and she supposes she is, but when she’s with Ben… she gets so _soft_. He is good at making her feel special, and she wanted to make him feel that too.

“So what profession do you plan on dominating when you grow up?” Ben smiled at the inadvertent compliment and she mentally high fived herself.

“I think I want to go into architecture, make something that will exist for a long time. Something people will think it beautiful, and it will mean something to them. It could be where they met their best friend, where they met their partner, where they were struck with a life changing idea, where they go once every year for a special tradition. I want to make something that makes people feel safe and happy.” If Bev wasn’t laying down she would swoon at his answer.

“That’s really sweet Ben,” she smiled at him and he felt his stomach flutter.

“Is Big Ben being adorable over there?” Richie got their attention.

“Indeed he is,” Bev laughed.

Richie scoffed and rolled his eyes in a playful manner, “typical Hanscom. We just can’t take you anywhere, can we.” Ben laughed wholeheartedly. He never got annoyed with Richie’s antics.

“So what do you want to do after college trashmouth?” Ben extended to conversation to him.

“I want to entertain people. I could be a musician, a comedian, a radio show personality, I could have a talk show; it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to make people forget themselves for a bit and be happy,” Richie shrugged. He didn’t notice Eddie shoot him an affectionate smile. But Bill did.

“I think I wanna be an author,” Bill offered. “Probably horror fiction.”

“Or you could also capitalize on the fact that you’re a fucking water bender. Your like a paler, ginger Katara… with a penis,” Richie said.

Eddie looked up, “I love that show! And stop talking about dicks.”

“That’s a weird request coming from our resident gay. Don’t you like brush your teeth with dick?” Richie laughed at his own joke. Eddie shook his head and elbowed the tall boy in the ribs. “Shut it trashmouth… wait, you like dick too!”

“Indeed I do Eddie Spaghetti. Want me to prove it?” he turned his head to Stan and semi-yelled, “hey bird boy! Drop your pants! I have to prove a point!”

“My dick is to good for you,” Stan didn’t even look up. Bill watched at the boy sitting on the other end of the bench and smirked to himself.

“Uh oh spaghetti, you heard that? Looks like you’re the only one left to satiate my sexual appetite. You think you have the stamina to keep up with me?” Eddie learned a long time ago not to answer Richie’s jokes with logic. “I would leave you in my dust, you walking space needle.” Richie beamed at the quip, “I’ll take that bet.”

Stan, again without looking away from his activities, deadpanned “his dick is too good for you.”

“Yeah,” Eddie laughed and nodded, “he speaks from experience.”

Richie let out a noise of disbelief and sat up, mouth gaping at Bill. “Hey! Your boy is touching my boy!” Bill chuckled and turned to Stan, “Stan you know it upsets Richie when you make jokes about Eddie’s dick.”

Stan finally turned addressing Richie and had a smirk on his face, “I wasn’t kidding. And I didn’t touch. But I can assure that it is too good for you.” Eddie rolls over he’s laughing so hard.

Bev raises her hand, “excuse me, could you tone down the gay.”

Richie, Eddie and Stan all respond, “I don’t know how.” That made everyone laugh.

“Remember they day we found out Bill was bi,” Mike reminisced. “That was some of the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.”

“I don’t think I was there for that story, but do tell,” Ben encouraged Mike.

“Well we were in the school hallway, I believe it was freshman year. Henry was harassing Eddie, calling him a fag, teasing him about liking dick and being an all around piece of shit,” Mike seethed a little, “then Bill walked over, all Bill-like, crossed his arms, and stood next to Eddie. He looked Henry dead in the face and said ‘dick is great. I love dick.’ Henry was so stunned, Bill and Eddie just walked away.” Even though most of them know the story, they all roared with laughter.

At that moment, the opening notes to _Beat It_ started coming from the speakers and Mike jumped up excited, “oh yeah, this is my fucking shit.” He turned the volume up and started moving to the beat. He danced over to the blankets and held out his hand to Richie, knowing the trashmouth is always ready to dance. Richie fanned his face like a southern aristocratic lady and let out a shrill “Michael!” He grabbed Mike’s hand and they started to dance together, the others looking on with fondness. Mike sang a long and did simple moves, but they were done so well and with so much swagger; he was killing it. Richie on the other hand jumped around to the beat and swung his arms around looking spastic, not that he gave a fuck. Eventually he started following Mike’s dancing, and while he was nowhere near as good, he kept up well enough.

At one point, when the guitar got intense, Richie dropped down to his knees on the blanket and air guitared in front of Eddie, getting in his face. Eddie blushed and swatted him away, but he got up and joined in on the dancing. Ben walked over to Mike’s chair and snagged his camera, getting a few candid shots of the three boys dancing around the clearing. He also got Bill and Stan laughing on the bench together, and one of Bev with her face resting in her hands and looking upon the rest of them smiling.

Ben looked around at his friends enjoying themselves and he felt like he was truly at home. He layed back down on the blanket next to Beverly. Since Bev turned on her stomach, Ben had a very clear view of her face, but he didn’t want to be creepy and quickly picked up his book to make himself look busy.

Bev nugged his shoulder with her arm, “whatcha reading?”

“What? Oh! Uh… its a story about a queen that grows very sick. She is so kind and generous to her subjects that everyone in her kingdom adores her and they all tear out to try to find a cure for her illness before it’s too late. It follows a few different groups of people racing against the clock to find the person that would know how to help her. It’s called _The Queen’s Cure_. It’s really interesting.”

Bev nodded, “that does sound interesting, the queen must have touched so many lives in a positive was,” she became lost in her thoughts. Ben looked at her, appreciating that she chose to wear her hair down today. It was a fiery red and slightly curly, hanging down to just past her shoulders. She had a lot of freckles that stood out on her cheeks, especially with her fair complexion. The character in his book, the queen, reminded him a lot of Beverly. She is just and smart, but never turns anyone away and makes sure that they get the help that they need. She is also fiercely protective of the people in her kingdom, no one was ever lost during her rule. Ben was taken with the image of Bev as a queen, so much so, that he didn’t notice the rustling on the bush right next to her head until something was placed on her.

Ben shot up quickly as Bev reached up to pull a ring of leaves and twigs from her head. Ben saw what seemed like a small branch pull itself back into the bushes and out of sight.

“Oh my,” Beverly gasped, “it’s beautiful!” Ben took a closer look at the thing Bev held in her hands. It wasn’t a mess of twigs and leaves like he originally thought. Thin branches were carefully woven together with a scattering of small leaves and blood red flowers in a design that was perfectly symmetrical… _it kind of looks like a crown_.

Bev gasped again, staring open mouthed at Ben’s face. Ben reached up self consciously to feel for whatever she was looking at. “Guys!” she got the attention of the rest of the losers and pointed wordlessly at Ben’s face. They moved behind her to see what she was pointing to and their shock made Ben squirm.

“Ben, your eyes are green… what the hell?” Stan informed him. Bev pulled out a compact makeup mirror so he could see for himself. Sure enough, where his eyes would normally be a soft brown, were instead a forest green.

Bev held up the crown to show the other losers, “and look! This came out of nowhere, it just landed on my head. I think… I think Ben made it.” He had a feeling she was right, but he had no idea how he did it.

“Two of our friends have super powers!” Richie smiled wide and held up his hand to Eddie, which Eddie high fived enthusiastically.

“Hey Ben,” Eddie made doe eyes at him, “that crown is really pretty. Can you please make one for me?” Ben laughed, then rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I can try.”

Attempting to imitate what Bill did a few days ago when trying to consciously control his power, he raised his hand to the nearby brush and tried to focus on making a crown. To his disappointment, nothing happened. He shrugged at Eddie and looked remorseful. Eddie wasn’t having any of that so he moved his arm around Ben in an affectionate way. “What were you thinking about when you made the first crown?” he inquired.

Ben took a deep breathe, “I was uh… thinking about this queen character in the book I was reading. Then I thinking about how Bev is similar and would make a great queen too. Then, the bush behind her moved and it just… I don’t know, placed a crown on her head.” Bev beamed at him, and the rest of the losers smiled deviously between the two.

Bev’s smile fell a little after a second, “Ben you eyes aren’t green anymore... Maybe that means that you can’t do it anymore?” The rest of the losers got lost in themselves talking about the meaning of the change in eye color and why it happened to Ben and not Bill.

While they were discussing, Ben wanted to give it another try without drawing attention to himself. He closed his eyes and instead of focusing on making something, he simply posed the question, _what would a flower crown for Eddie look like?_ He felt something around him respond and when he opened his eyes, he noticed movement in the building bush. The bush seemed to have both heard and reacted happily to the name because it reached out and placed a green flower behind Ben’s ear. That got the attention of the rest of the losers. After a couple more seconds of movement, a crown, similar to Bev’s but instead of having red flowers, it had baby blue flowers with sharp angled pedals, moved out of the brush and reached out to sit on Eddie’s head.

Eddie covered his mouth and squealed in happiness, taking the crown off the examine it further. The losers clapped for Ben while Richie pulled Eddie close and placed a kiss at his temple. They looked at each other happily and then turned to beam at Ben.

“Hey you eyes are green again! What did you do differently this time?” Bill asked.

“Well, I didn’t try to make it, I just sort of… asked,” Ben replied.

“Ask? Who did you ask?” Stan scrunched his eyebrows.

Mike made a face like something dawned on him, “water isn’t alive…” he seemed to be thinking out loud. “Bill can control it, make it do what he wants. But plants, nature… thats alive. It’s a living thing that you have to respect,” he smiled at Ben,” and it seems to have chosen the sweetest boy we know to bestow that power to.”

After some testing, they found that Bill’s eyes _did_ change color when using his power, it was just a slightly darker shade of blue so it wasn’t originally noticeable.

Everyone patted Ben on the back for this new revelation and waited patiently for a flower crown. After that they all got up to dance around the clearing to the song, _Edge Of Seventeen_ , pouring out of the speakers. Everyone was standing in a rough circle. Mike was dancing suavely, Bill was effortless, Stan was stiff, Eddie was enthusiastic, Richie was spastic, Bev was graceful and Ben was reserved; everyone participating nonetheless. 

 

Bev broke across to group to grasp hands with Ben. They spinned each other around and laughed, extremely content. After a bit she leaned in to whisper in his ear, “will you go on a date with me?” she pulled back and bit her lip. Ben wanted to laugh out loud at how nervous she looked when there was only one possible answer, “yes. Absolutely yes.” They beamed at each other.

“So am I gonna get dinner and a movie? I’m not a cheap date you know,” Ben started laughing half way through his joke. Beverly giggled at how Ben was too sweet to even pretend to be pretentious to make a joke. “Of course honey, only the best for my lady,” Bev dropped her voice. After they had another laugh, Bev leaned forward slowly and pressed her lips to his softly. Ben stopped moving, and thinking, and breathing really. They broke the kiss when loud cheering from the rest of the losers startled them apart. But that didn’t matter, Ben pulled her in to get another.

Before they left that day, they managed to balance Mike’s camera on the bench and set a timer so they could all get a photo together. Richie, being the fastest and having the longest legs was the one to hit the button. In his scramble to situate himself before the picture was taken, he grabbed Eddie by the waist and pulled him on his lap. Eddie was about to protest but Richie tickled his sides before he could so in the photo Eddie had his head thrown back and eyes squeezed shut, mid laugh. The rest smiled wide, everyone in their matching flower crowns.

To anyone else they looked like a bunch of losers. But each of them printed a copy of the photo and had it hanging in their residences for decades after.


	3. Eddie's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I just learned how to do italics in html after realizing that the italics I used when I wrote the first two chapters did not transfer over with the text. That might have made the point of view confusing at times because I use it to indicate the characters direct thoughts.  
> Also, you guys missed out on my emphasis of things, italics indicate the fucking _mood _.__
> 
> __I went back and fixed it, enjoy more clearly._ _
> 
> __I also didn't understand how energizing and fuzzy comments are to writers until I actually started receiving them. To those who commented, you are a gift._ _

October 2, 1994

Richie and Bev were sitting in the bed of Mike’s truck, Richie listening attentively to Bev reading her history presentation to make sure she was comfortable with the wording before she had to present tomorrow. This is usually where the losers go to eat lunch, but today they all went to the science wing to keep Stan and Ben company while they worked on their chemistry project. Richie and Bev stepped out to smoke, not wanting to light up inside the school in case they got busted. Richie was nodding along, assuring Bev as she continued. If there was one academic thing she could always rely on Richie to be helpful with, it was preparing presentations. He would help her organize the order in which to present things to best get her ideas across, the ideal delivery and speed with which to cover her topics, and suggesting a couple jokes to lighten up the content and relieve some of the pressure of being watched.

“President Johnson taking office proved to be a huge set back regarding the country’s plan for reconstruction. He-...” before Bev could finish her thought, the notes were snatched out of her hands by a figure behind her. To her annoyance, she turned and was met with the predatory face of Henry Bowers.

“Give the papers back and fuck off Bowers,” Richie spat, “don’t you have a father to disappoint and a sister to fuck?”

Henry ignored Tozier altogether, scanning his eyes over Bev’s notes before giving her a wolfish smile. “Why does a girl like you need to do all of this work for? You’re not gonna need to know this shit later.” He stepped closer and Bev shifted backwards to sit next to Richie, “you’re gonna marry a man who is gonna worry about this stuff, and you are gonna do what women do. Take what we give you and don’t think too hard about it. This,” he held up Bev’s papers, “is a waste of your time.” He ripped it in half with a weird smile on his face.

“Don’t marry him though,” he pointed at Richie, “this loser isn’t going anywhere.” He threw the notes at Richie’s feet and sauntered away, hands in his pockets.

“Fucking asshole,” Richie grumbled scooping up the notes. “The moron only ripped it in half so all of the text is still there, you just gotta copy it down onto a clean sheet. The fucker isn’t even good at being a menace to society. More like an inconvenience,” Richie rolled his eyes.

Bev put her notes in her backpack, giving Richie a look that said _I am angry, and we are going to do something about it_. “Lets go ruin that fuckers day,” Bev hopped out of the truck and flicked her cigarette in the trash. Richie followed behind and they schemed all the way to the entrance at the side of the building.

The hallway wasn’t very full, so they spotted Henry standing at his locker immediately. Bev whispered her plan into Richie’s ear. He looked a little sceptical but went along with it anyway, “if I get a black eye, you have to nurse me back to health.” 

“I’ll do you one better trashmouth,” Bev smiled, “I’ll get Eddie to do it.” “Deal,” Richie held out his hand and they shook on it.

Riche took his spot in the hall, leaning against the lockers opposite Henry. Bev started walking towards Henry as he closed his locker. When they were about 15 feet from each other, Bev opened up the Janitor’s closet and, luckily, Henry wasn’t paying attention to see it. Richie walked behind Henry at a controlled pace, making sure he timed it correctly. As Henry was about to walk around the open door, Richie slammed his body against Henry, making him fall to his hands and knees inside the janitor’s closet. Bev slammed the door shut and locked it.

They heard Henry start to swear and bang on the door. All of the students who walked by could easily identify the distraught student as Henry Bowers and none of them made a move to help him.

Richie and Bev jump high fived in their excitement. After their brief celebration, they quickly moved down the hall, putting distance between themselves and the bully they just trapped in the closet.

They ran into the chemistry room slightly out of breath and closed the door behind them. Mike noticed them laughing to each other, “hey what took so long.”

“Oh, Henry was just being an ass,” Richie threw his backpack down, slumped in a desk and threw his feet up.

Eddie eyed they two of them suspiciously, “so what did _you_ guys do?”

Richie grinned wide at him and put his hands behind his head, “we locked him in the english wing. I wonder who is gonna help poor henry out of the closet.” Bill laughed and looked at Bev for confirmation that they did, in fact, get revenge in this ironic way.

“Yeah, I can put ‘sneaky and devious’ on my resume when I start pursuing my career as a housewife,” Bev smiled smugly.

Ben scrunched up his face, “how about we both have successful careers so we can afford to order out a lot and pay a maid to clean what we don’t have time for?” Bev might as well had hearts for eyes with the look she threw at Ben. She reached out and interlocked their fingers. “That sounds great to me.”

Richie leaned over to Eddie’s desk and snagged the bag of apple slices he had in his lunch. Eddie looked at him annoyed. “You don’t like them,” Richie rose a challenging eyebrow at him and bit into an apple slice.

“Oh, I can’t get anything past you,” Eddie joked, “next time just ask.”

“But Eds, there are certain things that can be assumed because we’ve been friends for so long. I get to eat the apples your mom always packs you because she doesn’t listen when you tell her you don’t like them. Any new comic releases that we get, we meet up and read together. When we go to the fair and you tell me that I have to stop eating sugar, I listen because you know my limits when I don’t. When we camp out at the abandoned church near Mike’s house, I always give you a piggyback ride over the stream because you’re afraid of turtles and you don’t like to get your shoes wet. Or when I have a bad day, I can come and knock on your bedroom window after 9 o’clock and you will let me stay the night.” Richie had a twinkle in his eyes as he was rambling that made Eddie feel… _fucking happy_.

“Or like how we always coordinate our Halloween costumes,” Eddie contributed, “speaking of which, that’s coming up soon and we haven’t nailed down an idea yet.”

Richie started firing off ideas, “Cobain and Love, ummm Men in Black, Sherlock and Watson, uh Lennon and McCartney, Batman and Robin… Vincent Vega and Winnfield?” Eddie jumped up at that one.

“That’s a good idea but what about a different Tarantino movie? _Kill Bill_. I could be the bride and you could be Bill!” Richie shook his head, “no fucking way, I wanna be Lucy Liu’s character, O-Ren. She’s a fucking badass.” Richie pitched up his voice, “Now if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, now’s the fucking time!” he mimics swinging a katana.

“Okay spaghetti,” Richie nodded, “I agree to this, as long as you wear the yellow jumpsuit.” Eddie smacks Richie on the forehead, “of course that’s what I’m wearing. You think I’m gonna be the bride and dress in a wedding gown? No, I’m going with the iconic outfit.”

“Wow, I think I just nut in my pants thinking about you in those pants,” Richie sighed dreamily. Eddie blushed and hit him on the arm, “can it Rich.” _Is he making fun of me, is he joking, or is he serious? I can’t fucking tell_.

“How can I when my spaghetti noodle is gonna look so hot!” Richie made grabby hands at Eddie. _Okay, I’m leaning towards he’s serious?_ Nonetheless, he resisted when Richie reached over and started leaving aggressive kisses on the side of his head.

“Richie… hahahaa, Rich! Ahhh Rich stop!” They could see Stan place his hands over Bill’s eyes and whisper yell “ _not in front of the children_!”

Richie, still wrestling with a squirming Eddie, responded “we need to give the children a wilderness lesson.” Richie launched into an Australian accent, “if you’re lucky enough to see a wild spaghetti noodle in its natural habitat, I caution that you should not approach this animal because it is very fierce.” Eddie laughed hard and started fighting back harder. “But if you can’t resist the noodle’s charm, approach it slowly…” At this point Eddie is on Richie’s lap and Richie paused for a moment, as if simulating sneaking up on him from behind. “... And go for the ribs!” Richie wiggles his fingers on Eddies sides and he starts getting really loud, laughing. “The ribs are the noodles most sensitive area.” Eddie wiggles so desperately he falls to the floor and rolls on his back, panting hard. “Now that you have subdued the spaghetti noodle, he shouldn’t fight back anymore.” Richie leans over Eddie slowly, stopping a couple inches away from his face.

Richie smells like smoke and something sweet, a weird combo for a weird trashmouth. Eddie is smitten with it. Richie’s silly demeanor seems to fall and he speaks quietly so only Eddie can hear.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, pupils dilated and eyes on Eddie’s lips. “Yeah,” Eddie responds breathlessly. When Richie leans in, Eddie places a finger on his chin. “But not here, come home with me after school?” Richie beamed and nodded.

As they were picking themselves off the floor, the door to the classroom flied open. Three figures walk in and slam the door behind them. Henry, Victor and Belch, the school assholes. Henry pulled the blinds on the door window closed so no one could see in.

“I’m gonna rearrange your face Tozier,” Henry spat. He stood in front Richie, flanked by his goons.

“Is that so? Got bored jacking off in the closet?” Richie taunted. Bill jumped off the desk he was sitting on and started walking toward the hostiles, “well, let’s at least leave it to a vote before you try to break him. All those in favor of Richie’s face staying the way it is, raise your hand.”

All of the losers raised their hands, knowing it was a way to stall while Mike and Bill moved closer to Richie in case they did try to get physical. _Well, it’s not like he doesn’t already know how I feel about him_ , Eddie thought to himself. He moved onto his tiptoes and started waving his hand back and forth, stretching it high in a way to make clear how much he likes Richie’s face the way it is. To take it a step further he started saying “me! Me!” under his breath and it broke the stare down between Henry and Richie.

Henry looked confused, but Richie, Richie beamed back at him. “God, I love y-” Richie started before Henry dealt a swift blow to his face. Richie landed on his ass and Mike, Bill and Ben moved in front of him. Ben slightly closer to Bev because he wanted to be able to play defense for both if he had to. Everything paused for a moment, everyone glaring at each other.

Then Bev ran to the front of the room to she if there was something she could use as a weapon. Victor tried to advance on her but Ben was quick to shove his weight into him and knock him off his feet. Belch grabbed Mike by the arm and they started grappling. Mike being slightly over powered until Bill landed a punch on Belch’s left cheek.

Henry moved in on Richie, grabbing him by the collar and punching him in the jaw. Eddie jumped over the desk separating them, grabbing a textbook on his way, and brought the book down on Henry’s head. _Hard_.

Henry let out a noise of pain and after his eyes refocused, he got up to go after Eddie. Before he could lay hands on him, Richie tackled him from behind. After Richie landed two blows, Henry knocked him off balance and moved over him. He pulled back to hit him again and Eddie caught sight of Richie’s face. Split lip, swollen cheek, minor black eye. It was a startling sight for the care free jokester that they all know and love. That he loves. Eddie grabbed Henry’s wrist and pulled backward, throwing his weight into it, “stop!” Henry used Eddie’s momentum against him and pushed him in the chest, making Eddie fall flat on his ass.

Eddie made eye contact with Richie this time and he could see a small smile and a look of fondness across his battered features. _He doesn’t deserve this. This is_ bullshit.

Henry raised his fist again and it made anger course through Eddie. “STOP!” he roared, and pounded his fists on the ground. When his fists made contact, crackling arcs of blue light erupted from his fists and shot out around the room. At the same moment, the lights in the classroom blew out, leaving only natural light from the open windows in the back to help them see.

Everyone in the room stopped. Ben had Victor pinned to the blackboard. Belch was lying on his stomach on the floor, Mike sitting on top of him and Bev stood with one of her shoes holding his head down. Bill was in mid run to get to Stanley who looked seconds away from bursting into tears. Henry was on top of Richie, and Richie was looking at Eddie in awe.

Eddie moved his hand to grip Henry’s ankle, “ _leave!_ ” Blue snakes of light shot up and around Henry’s leg. The crackling light easy to see now that the overheard bulbs blew. Henry’s body started convulsing and he almost fell on top of Richie, but trashmouth gave him a hard shove sideways. Henry shakily stood up, looking at Eddie in terror and confusion. He stumbled towards the door and his friends moved to follow him after Bev relented and removed her shoe from the massive boy’s head. In the hallway, the lights were out as well and students were starting to file out of the other classrooms, murmuring about power being out in the whole school.

The losers slowly got up and examined each other wounds, making sure everyone wasn’t in any serious pain.

“So Eddie,” Bill got his attention, “electricity?”

Eddie paused for a moment and suddenly doubled over laughing. Richie moved to his side to rub circles on his back in a calming gesture. They all know those laughs. They weren’t happy Eddie laughs, they were hysterical Eddie laughs. After taking a couple deep breaths and making a fist in Richie’s shirt to ground himself, he let out a weak, “yeah, I think.”

To prove his point, he held Richie’s hand out and moved his index finger towards it. When he made contact there was a shot of blue and Richie yelped. Then he winced and held Eddie tighter, “that was more than just a rubbing your socks on the carpet zap. Ow, Eds.”

Eddie held the zapped hand, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” A squeeze from Richie assured that it was okay. “Our crackling little ball of energy.”

A teacher poked their head into the classroom, “hey kids, everyone in the gym until we figure out what to do about the power.”

The losers packed up their stuff and Eddie moved to exit the classroom and go to the gym, but Richie grabbed his backpack and held him in place. “You might want to wait a minute Eds, your eyes are electric blue right now.”

He shrugged, “it doesn’t matter, the people who would notice are all in this room.”

“But Eddie,” Stan warned him, “they’re glowing a little. Richie is right, they are _electric_ blue.”

Eddie sighed and rested his head on Richie’s chest. “Who would have known that I find your eyes equally sexy as a night light,” Richie joked. Eddie smiled and buried his face further in Richie’s shirt. After a few minutes, it was safe to head to the gym. After a half hour there, they were sent home and told that the power should be fixed by tomorrow and to show up for a regular school day.

Eddie and Richie parted ways with the others losers and headed to the Kaspbrak home. When they got there, Eddie grabbed frozen peas from the fridge and marched Richie up to his bathroom. He sat him on the toilet, pulling out his first aid kit to clean up his face. “Put this on your left cheek,” he threw the bag in his lap.

“Aye aye, Doctor K”. Eddie cleaned out the cut on Richie lip and took off his glasses so he could bend the frames back to their original shape. Eddie placed them back on the tall boys face carefully. He started packing up the supplies when Richie stood, turning Eddie’s body to face him. There was an intensity in his eyes that Eddie had never seen before. Richie stepped towards him, their chests two inches apart.

Richie placed a big hand on Eddie’s chest and pushed him gently, making the smaller boy walk backwards. He gulped and bit his lip, letting Richie guide him towards his bedroom without having to turn around. The taller boy noticed Eddie biting his lip and let out a small sigh, looking back into Eddie’s eyes with somehow _more_ intensity than there was a second ago. They walked into the threshold of Eddie’s room, and he assumed Richie would guide him to sit on the edge of the bed. Instead, he stopped applying pressure and Eddie halted just short of the edge.

Richie moved his hand slowly down Eddie’s chest, moving to his hip, then his ass. He grabbed firmly and pulled Eddie in so they were breathing the same air.

The smaller boy looked very affected, looking up at Richie with wonder and want in his eyes. “ _Rich…_ ” he breathed out. They leaned in slowly for a hard kiss. After the sucked in a huge breath, Eddie immediately wanted more, licking Richie lips to get him to open his mouth, and he did, after he growled and lifted Eddie up to wrap his legs around him. They moved onto the bed, holding onto each other for dear life.

“Wait, wait. Rich,” Eddie turned his head to get the words past Richie’s lips, “I need you to know this isn’t just… I’m serious about us. I need us to be on the same page or we have to stop.”

Richie ran his fingers through Eddie’s hair, “baby, it was always serious for me. I have it bad for you spaghetti.” Eddie giggled and wrapped his arms around the other boys neck. “So… because I want this way more than I want to take your pants off, I’ll start with it.” Richie tapped his hands on the bed in rapid succession to give a drumroll to whatever he is about to say. Eddie smiled at the beautiful dork.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Richie rested his chin on his hands and looked at Eddie expectantly. “I would be so lucky,” Eddie whispered quietly. Richie’s eyes softened, “I’ve got it so fucking bad.”

Eddie smiled and pulled on Richie’s neck a little, “so do you wanna go back to making out?” Richie didn’t answer, his head still in his hands, staring dreamily at Eddie. The smaller boy tugged again, “come on Rich, come kiss me.” Richie blinked hazily a couple times, “what am I supposed to be doing?”

Eddie laughed. “Well, now that I know we’re serious. I want to touch you.” Eddie didn’t give him a chance to respond, smashing his lips on Richie’s. But he could gauge his reaction by the soft moan Riche let out and the way he ground his hips into his own.

It was full steam ahead, them only breaking lips a few times in their scramble to undress each other. They were both laying on their sides, stripped down to only their briefs. Eddie reached out to palm Richie through his boxers. Richie bit into Eddie’s bottom lip and groaned softly, then started massaging the flesh of Eddie’s ass with a huge hand. They both took a second to kick their boxers off, Eddie reaching back down to touch Richie without the fabric in the way. Richie was big, and that turned him on, which made him move faster and he started sliding his hand up and down Richie’s length.

After Richie moved to simultaneously return the favor, they were both panting and groaning into each others mouths. “ _Jesus Eds_ ,” Richie moaned and kissed him hard. Eddie decided to be playful, “that’s very flattering, but you can just stick with Eds.” He started chuckling until he felt Richie give him a sharp spank. Eddie gasped in surprise, “don’t get sassy when that glorious ass of yours is on display. I just might act on what I want to do to it,” Richie eyed him in a dark and playful way.

All Eddie could think to say was, “ow,” which they will find very funny later. Richie paused and his face changed to one of caution, “are you okay baby?”

Eddie blushed, not because his dick is in another boy’s hands, but because that boy is showing him affection. “Yeah,” Eddie reassured, “I short circuited a little there and saying ‘ow’ is a reflex I relied on for a response.”

“So, does that mean you liked when I spanked you?” Richie smiled wide. All the small boy could do was nod shyly. Richie pulled him a little closer, “what else do you want baby boy?”

Richie went back to touching him, waiting for an answer. After a moment of deliberation and building up nerve, Eddie ducked his head, “I want you to talk to me.” Richie cocked his head to the side questioningly. “I want you to tell me... what you want to do to me, like you said earlier.” Eddie held his breath. Richie moved his face closer and started speaking gruffly in his ear.

“You wanna know what I want to do to you baby boy? I would start by getting that perky little ass ready for me…” Eddie moaned and buried his face in Richie’s neck. “I would fuck you open with my tongue, get it nice and wet. I bet you would squirm so I would have to hold you down while I slipped my tongue in and out of you.” Eddie gripped his hand in Richie’s hair, a soft little “ _yeah_ ” escaping his lips. “Then I’d slip a finger in you. God, I bet you’re so tight.” Richie started to sound affected too. “Do you want that baby? Want me to fuck you with my fingers?” Richie’s voice in Eddie’s ear was doing wonders for his groin. “Yeah I want that, I want it so bad,” he started moving his hips into the tall boys fist and with a loud “ _Richie!_ ” he climaxed hard.

After Eddie’s head stopped swimming, he focused on moving his hand on Richie faster. He got an idea and gave Rich a quick peck on the lips before sliding down the bed and leveling his face with the cock in his grip. Eddie looked up to shoot his boyfriend a smirk before licking from base to tip. Richie started to babble profanity and praise, “oh fuck… yeah right there… fuck yeah… uhh it feels so good… you’re so good baby.” Eddie explored the tip with his tongue, continuing to pump Richie faster while his other hand moved up Richie’s thigh.

Suddenly, Richie could feel a tingling sensation in his body wherever the cute boy was touching him. It was more than just an arousal tingle. He looked down at Eddie and sure enough, bright blue eyes were staring back at him. Eddie didn’t seem to notice that he was minutely shocking Richie, but the taller boy couldn’t get enough of it. He arched his back and bit down on his fist to keep himself from truly screaming. The little kitten licks Eddie was giving him was lighting him on _fire_ with pleasure.

Richie breathed out “ohhh I’m gonna cum. Eds I’m gonna come.” He tugged on Eddie’s hair to move his mouth away but Eddie reached back and intertwined their fingers. He sucked on the head as Richie came in his mouth.

“Hey Eds,” Richie panted, “you are amazing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, pretty nervous about the explicit part in here. Was it okay? Too much? Help


	4. Stan's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think you can guess what abilities the other losers are gonna have?

October 2, 1994

“Let’s take bets on who will get powers next. My money is on me. I want it to be me,” Richie looked up into the sky, “whoever is giving us abilities, I would like to volunteer myself.” He stood proudly with his arms out, like he was ready to receive a gift. The losers had been theorizing all week about the talents that are randomly emerging within their ranks. So far, Bill, Ben and Eddie all agreed that there is no need to advertise their powers because being different in Derry often gets you killed, and being powerful anywhere often gets you killed. It is a secret the losers all swore to keep.

Bill got Stan’s attention subtly and smirked, using some of the quarry water to splash Richie on the back of the neck. Stan giggled as Richie whipped around.

“Billiam! If you don’t stop doing that I will have your ass!” Richie yelled.

“Please,” Bill whispered and gave Richie a pleading look, “be gentle. I am but a humble virgin.”

Richie smiled, happy Bill will often indulge him in childish banter. Richie bowed, “of course my lady. I would never soil such a sweet flower. That dress however,” he pointed to Bills faded t-shirt and jeans, “has got to go.”

“Now!” Bill clutched his chest, “what will father say! He could come in at any minute!” Richie crawled deviously through the circle to get to Bill.

“I’m not afraid of him,” Richie smirked and got in Bill’s space. Their faces were a couple inches apart. Whenever he and Bill start joking around, they often bounce off of each other and keep the gag going until someone caves or they are interrupted. Richie leaned in, wanting to make Bill be the one to tap out first.

Bev dropped her voice, “what are you two doing in here!” she shouted before Richie and Bill touched lips. “You! Get away from my daughter! I’ll kick your ass.” Bev got up to go after Richie and Bill threw himself between them.

“No daddy! I love him!” he weakly pushed Bev back.

“Disapproving parent, that’s my cue to go,” Richie saluted to Bill and took off down the shore. Bev laughed and took off after him.

“Get back here! I’ll teach you to some manners by putting my foot up your ass!” Bev yelled as best she could while speaking in baritone. As they ran back and forth yelling and chasing each other Stan huffed, annoyed.

“Scaring away all the goddamn birds. I just wanna see my birds. I go to temple every week, eat my vegetables, do my homework, not talk back to my parents, and this is the thanks I get?” Stan rhetorically grumbled to himself. Mike laughed under his breath at Stan’s saltiness.

He tuned out of the conversation Eddie, Ben and Bill were engrossed in about Ben’s new car and got up to walk into the forest a little to a place that is more quiet. He knows the location of a sparrow’s nest that he saw about a month ago and he wanted to try to find it again.

Mike called after him, “hey Stan, where are you going?”

“I’m gonna go check out a birds nest while the children let off some steam.” He gestured to Richie and Bev running around, noting that Eddie had gotten up and teamed up with Bev to try to pin Richie. He smiled at their antics, knowing that Ben and Mike were the only ones that could do it, and they were sitting peacefully on the shore, fiddling with Mike’s radio.

He walked off into the trees while Bev and Eddie decided that just tripping Richie would be good enough. Richie, though not a good runner, could easily out maneuver them with his long legs. What was really starting to tire him out was laughing so hard while jogging along the beach. Whenever Eddie would get close he would change directions quickly and Eddie would go down, trying to change directions with him. Bev was running after him shouting things like “bad dog! Come back here!” and “it’s okay little boy, I have candy! I will help you find your parents, just come here.”

Eventually, Richie’s smoker lungs got the best of him and he decided to surrender. He ran back to the other losers and turned around sharply, letting Eddie crash into him. He fell backwards and wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist. “You won spaghetti,” he beamed up at his boyfriend.

Eddie nodded simply, “I am the king,” and placed a kiss on Richie’s forehead.

“Oh this is good, then I am your naughty servant boy that goes above and beyond in my duties, if you know what I mean,” he wagged his eyebrows at Eddie. Eddie couldn’t help but laugh and lovingly told his boyfriend to shut up.

“So you guys didn’t place a bet on who is gonna be next. I say me, for wishful thinking purposes. Bill?” Richie asked.

“Mmmmm Mike. I think it’s gonna be Mikey.”

“I second that,” Eddie raised his hand.

“Third,” Bev added.

“Goddamnit,” Richie sighed.

Ben put a hand on his shoulder, “I’ll bet for you Rich.”

Richie took his hand in his own and smiled, then looked around the group at everyone. “We aren’t good enough for Ben. Ben is pure. We must protect him at all costs,” he said very seriously.

Bev laughed, “Ben can protect himself, you should see what he can do.” The rest of the losers began to pester him until Mike volunteered to participate in his demonstration.

“You sure?” Ben questioned.

“Of course Benny, I trust you. Show us what you got.”

Ben nodded, “alright. You stand up and try to… resist as best you can.” Mike gave a thumbs up and a big smile, which helped Ben relax.

He took a deep breath and then thick vines shot out of the group and wrapped themselves around Mike’s wrists, pulling him toward the ground and making them damn near immobile. Mike pulled with all of this strength and managed to rip the one attached to his right wrist, but immediately another vine took its place and Mike was pulled to his knees. More vines shot up around his ankles, and more snaked their way around his torso. At this point Mike stopped fighting and decided to watch himself be completely incapacitated. After the plants stopped moving, he wiggled around and pulled, finding that he was completely bound to the shore.

“You know, if you were an actual threat,” Ben theorized, “I could bound your mouth shut, cover your eyes, choke you and cut off oxygen to your brain, use thorny vine or vines with poisonous flowers, maybe pull you underground. I’ve been messing around in my backyard to see what I can do. It was cool. I made a rose that was a foot wide. It was beautiful and I gave it to Bev.”

“Well shit Ben,” Eddie raised his eyebrows impressed, “maybe you’re the king.” They all laughed and Ben quickly unbound Mike.

After a moment, they heard a yell from the woods, not very far from where they were sitting. “Where is Stan?” Bev asked looking around.

“He went to go check out a birds nest,” Mike provided. When they heard another yell they all shot up and moved closer to the noise, wanting to hear it again so they knew which direction to run in. When they heard it again it was very loud and very close, but this time it sounded like a joyful whopping. A bunch of birds broke through the treeline.

-

Stan didn’t have to walk very far before he found the tree that he recognized as the one containing the birds nest. On a branch about five feet above his head sat a larger bird and her two babies. He pulled out his little binoculars and used them to better view the nest.

“Song sparrow,” he whispered to himself.

The mom was chirping sweetly, seemingly as a way to communicate with her babies. She hopped over the the edge of the nest and took off, doing a quick lap around the tree and landed back in the nest.

She chirped some more until one of the babies hopped over the the edge of the nest. It moved in place and looked down. After a moment it opened its little wings and jumped out off the nest, flapping sporadically and fell quickly towards the ground. Without thinking, Stan reached out with cupped hands and caught the baby before it landed in the leaves. The mom hopped out onto the branch and looked down at her baby. Stan stepped up onto a different branch and climbed until he was level with the nest, then very slowly reached out the hand holding the baby. As he got close to the nest, the mom squawked and he froze.

When the mom didn’t move threateningly, he finished the stretch and placed the baby back in the nest. The mom moved to nuzzle the fallen baby. The sibling decided it was a good time to try flying themselves, and they hopped to the edge. Stan held his breath as he got a front row seat to this family passing down a skill to a young generation. As the baby jumped his heart lurched, he wasn’t down there to catch them if they failed. He bit his lip and watched; the baby flapped hard as they were falling and they caught the air a few feet above the ground, happily circling the neighboring trees and chirping.

The mom chirped as well then hopped over to the other baby. Before Stan could witness anymore he scrambled down the tree, wanting to be there if the baby fell again. The bird looked down the jumped fearlessly out of the nest. Learning from his sibling, he flapped his little wings hard as he fell and managed to maintain flight. He swooped up and down, getting a feel for navigating through the trees. The mother joined her young and they sang happily, circling each other.

Stan sported a huge grin, feeling on top of the world that he got to witness baby song sparrows learning to fly. He was distracted, gaze up in the trees, but he absolutely did notice when his feet started to leave the ground. He let out a yell and promptly fell back onto his feet.

_Did I just fly? No, I hovered above the ground, and flying doesn’t fit the theme of powers the losers have received_. He brought his gaze back up the the family of birds. He longed to be up there with them, experiencing the freeing feeling of being weightless.

Then the thought struck Stan, _air. Maybe my thing is air._

He put his binoculars in his pocket and opened both of his hands, gesturing to the ground and focusing on pushing himself up. Sure enough, he shot up several feet and was able to grab a low hanging branch.

His whole body was buzzing with excitement and he wondered what he could do with this power. He waved his hand and moved various things around him at varying distances. Making leaves shake, leaves kick up from the ground, pulling branches and going as far as making one snap in half. Everything in his sight was within his range. _But can I fly?_

Stan looked up to his bird friends, soaring high above the treeline now. _I just have to trust that I can, like a bird learning to fly_. He climbed up higher in the tree, giving himself a good distance to fall so he has time to act before he hits the ground.

Stan took a deep breath and steadied himself on the branch. If he jumps out far enough, he has a clear shot the the ground if this doesn’t work so he won’t hit any branches on the way down. With his stomach in knots, and his heart on his sleeve, Stan jumped.

As he fell downwards he focused on pushing himself up, doing a labored gesture with his hands towards the ground. He shot straight up past the trees. He didn’t want to lose the momentum so he focused on soaring straight. He could feel a wind pushing him forward and one holding him up. Stan dived a little and moved to make a turn; the winds moved with him, letting Stan reach a hand down and brush his hand over leaves on the tops of the trees. Stan whopped loudly this time.

The family of birds, originally startled by Stan’s air born appearance, moved to fly with him. They all moved towards the quarry, Stan yelling in delight.

-

The losers looked up at the noise got louder. They paid no mind to the family of birds that flew over head, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a boy flying through the air.

The stood open mouthed as Stan coasted over the quarry with a huge smile on his face.

After processing what they are witnessing, they cheered loudly for for their friend. “Yeah Stan!!!”

“He must be on top of the world. He looks like…” Richie started. “A bird,” Eddie finished, looking up into Richie eyes. They both had the most sincere look of happiness across their faces.

The losers ran to their friend as he descended towards the shore. There was a flurry of “holy shit!”, “that was so cool!”, “can I get on your back and fly too?”, and “well shit, you can fly. All I can do is break the school.”

Mike hushed them and rubbed his hands together, “alright Stan the Man, I assume your domain is air. Show us what you can do.”

“Well, I can fly”, Stan couldn’t help the smile that slowly creeped up his face. “I can move things,” he demonstrated by swiping his hand and Mike’s folding chair flew to the side a couple feet and toppled over.

“But I don’t think I can do anything with precision,” he waved his hands at Richie, trying to pull the zipper of his pants down, but Richie’s pants were shoved down to his ankles. Stan nodded at the outcome of the experiment and Eddie jumped up to cover Richie’s mouth before he could make a joke about Stan taking off his pants.

“Maybe I can…” Stan thought out loud, “hey Bill can I try something on you?” Bill nodded and Stan approached him. He reached out and shoved Bill; not hard, he barely moved, but when Bill stumbled back he acted like he had been punched in the gut. He fell to his knees clutching his throat. After a few moments of gasping, Bill forced out a “jesus fuck Stanley.”

“Of _course_ Stan the man has already basically mastered his power,” Richie rolled his eyes.

Stan laughed a little and moved to offer Bill a hand to stand up, “oh Bill, did I take your breath away?” he smirked down. After accepting Stan’s hand and getting to his feet, Bill covertly flicked his hand towards the water. A wave sprung out around Stan’s ankles and moved back, pulling his feet out from under him.

“Oh Stan,” Bill smiled, “did I sweep you off your feet?”

All of the losers laughed and Richie let out a low “ooooooo,” glancing between them. “Are you gonna take that _lying down_ Stanley.”

Stan got up and brushed sand off his front then kicked off his wet shoes before he addressed Bill. “Wanna mess around until someone gets hurt?” he offered. There was no malice in his request, in fact, he looked a little excited.

Bill shrugged, “sure, sounds fun.” The rest of the losers backed up, steering clear of whatever was about to happen.

Stan took a stance, angling his body to the side, and bending his knees. “Don’t go easy on me Denbrough.”

Bill raised his eyebrows, “Why the _fuck_ would you think I’d go easy on you?” Bill waded into the water up to his knees. Stan smiled back. There was a moment where they stared at each other and neither moved, seemingly both choosing to go on defense first.

Finally, Bill held out his hand and made a ball of water. There was no element of surprise with this attack, so he just threw it at Stan. Stan swiped his hand and a blast of wind broke apart the projectile. Immediately, he moved his hand toward Bill, palm facing out and another gust of wind hit him square in the chest, sending him on his ass in the water. Bill spit out what had gotten in his mouth and fired a shot of water in retaliation.

The curly haired boy gracefully bent his knees and jump clear of the water, flipping backwards and landing lightly on his feet. Bill bit his lip, trying to ignore the fact that he found Stan incredibly hot in this moment. Blinking out of his daze quickly, Bill upped the ante and sent a large wave that he couldn’t dodge as easily. Stan pushed with as much force as he could muster and split the wave in half, mostly. He got wet but he wasn’t taken down or moved by the impact.

Stan shook the wet hair out of his eyes and Bill looked away quickly because he could feel himself blush. He placed his feet on the surface of the water, and to his delight he found out he could stand. He turned himself around and threw a smirk at Stan, “try to catch me bird boy,” and took off across the surface of the water. Stan wasted no time in launching himself into the air. Bill rose the water, making himself a ramp of sorts so he wasn’t below Stan and kept running the to middle of the quarry. They took shots at each other mercilessly and laughed happily all the while.

“Do you think they’ll get together?” Eddie asked the rest of the losers who sat watching their friends have an epic battle from the safety of the shore.

“Well, it’s pretty clear Bill wants to, but Stan, he’s a little harder to read,” Mike tilted his head in curiosity.

“Isn’t that amazing?” Ben breathed, “bird boy gets to fly.” They looked to Stan fondly.

“Bird boy gets to fly, star athlete gets downgraded to water boy, soft boy becomes father nature and snarky boy becomes _sparky boy_ ,” Richie mused.

“If you start calling me sparky I’m going to kick your ass,” Eddie huffed warningly.

“Why don’t you and Ben give it a go?” Richie took on the voice of a boxing commentator, “in this corner, weighing in at enough to kick your ass is… Father Nature!” Richie mimicked an audience cheering. “And in this corner weighing in at… I don’t know but he’s perfect... Sparky! He’ll make your heart stop folks.”

Eddie reached out and zapped Richie on the neck. Richie laughed and raised his hands in defeat, curling himself next to said aggressor.

“You guys should give it a try!” Bev suggested, “it looks like fun.”

“But he is so cute,” both he and Ben said at the same time. They laughed and threw an arm around one another warmly.

Richie, in absence of a cuddle buddy, crawled over to Mike and rested his head in his lap. Mike absentmindedly ran his fingers through the other boys unruly hair.

Richie spoke softly so only Mike could hear, “I’m worried Stan doesn’t feel the same way as Bill and he’s gonna accidentally break his heart.” They both looked out to the boys on the quarry that are having the time of their lives.

“Let’s hope that never happens.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to @FlashOfLightning who reminded me to be on top of my shit


	5. Bev's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess whose back. Back again.
> 
>  
> 
> Let me know how you liked it :)

Bev’s

 

October 15, 1994

_*static* “The store owner claims that there were four people involved in the robbery. All four assailants wore hoods so their identities are still unknown. One brave customer threw himself at one of the assailants to try to protect the store owner when she resisted opening the register, and was shot twice in the back. He died within minutes from blood loss. Sources say he was close to the owner and they were involved. His heroic actions, unfortunately, didn’t slow down the robbers and they were able to flee the scene without witnesses. The police urge the town, especially local establishments, banks and hotels to be weary of these men. They are armed and dangerous. Don’t be a hero.”_

Mike lowered the radio volume when Eddie started yelling at Bill for putting his fingers in the batter he was currently mixing.

“I don’t want your damn spit and _finger germs_ in the brownie mix. Piss off, I’m baking,” Eddie swatted away a chuckling Bill.

“Ow,” Bill rubbed his arm. “Who fed you after midnight,” he said with a shit-eating grin. Richie let out a loud laugh from his place on the counter top. He and Ben were facing each other on opposite ends of Bill’s kitchen island, throwing grapes into each others mouths. He almost fell backwards from laughing so hard.

“I’ll show you a fucking gremlin Denbrough,” Eddie placed the bowl down and started chasing him around the kitchen. Bill ran from him and was able to evade Mike’s arms reaching out to stop him, but Eddie was not so lucky. Mike wrapped an arm around him and held him back against his chest. Eddie wiggled and tried to get out of his hold, “I will shock you!” Mike looked down and shook his head, saying a simple “no you won’t.” Eddie slumped in defeat and crossed his arms, leaning into Mike’s embrace.

“Haha,” Bill stuck his tongue out, “dad said no.”

Bill and Eddie often treated each other like actual brothers. Eddie, because he always looked up to Bill and got his protection, as well as relentless light-hearted teasing. Bill, because he reminded him of the little brother he once had. His relationship with Eddie is something that he cherishes, but he would never acknowledge why. It would be too painful.

Richie opened his mouth but Ben shook his finger silently in warning, assuming Richie was about to make a dad joke. Bev piped up from her place at the dining table, looking up from her sewing, “Mike _is_ daddy.” Richie looked at Ben, scoffing and gestured exasperatedly at the redhead for making the joke when he was silenced.

“Oh my god”, Ben sighed, “I’m dating Richie.” Richie smiled devilishly while Bev corrected him, “no, you’re dating Beverly,” and went back to her project.

“If they’re the same, can I date Bev?” Eddie asked from his jail in Mike’s arms.

“No!” Richie jumped from the counter, “I called dibs on you spaghetti meatball. If the others make a move, they have to face my wrath.” He scooped Eddie out of Mike’s arms and placed kisses all over his face. “But for the record, if we did ever swing, I would not turn you down Big Ben,” Richie threw him a wink.

Ben blushed and laughed, “uh, thanks, I think.”

Bill was still in the mood for shenanigans, so he covertly moved some water from a glass on the counter and splashed it into Eddie’s ear. Eddie shrieked, which caused Richie to jump away from him, which was lucky because Eddie started to crackle with electricity. He gave Bill a death glare. It was often that whenever Eddie got angry he would start to spark.

Richie jumped a little in excitement and said under his breath, “I finally get to try.” While he was looking through the pantry, Mike took a wooden spoon and used it to scooch Eddie away from the counter in case he touched anything electrical or conductive, just to be safe. Eddie didn’t notice this, as he was currently trying to kill Bill with his eyes. He also didn’t notice his boyfriend holding a container of unpopped popcorn kernels. Richie took a piece and whispered to Bev getting her attention. “Watch this,” he tossed the kernel at Eddie and when it made contact with him, it expanded into popcorn and hit the ground with a little sizzle.

Richie and Bill started laughing and Eddie stared at the ground, wide-eyed. Richie went to scoop a handful of kernels, preparing to toss them all at Eddie at once when Stan noticed what happened and sent a swift push to air towards Richie’s head, whipping it backwards. Before Bill could snicker again, he did the same thing to him. “Behave boys,” Stan scolded.

“Are you our daddy too?” Richie asked jokingly while massaging the back of his neck and wincing. “You must be our tough love daddy,” he wagged his eyebrows. Mike and Ben shared a look, then they picked up Bill and Richie and started walking them to the living room. Richie kept making dirty jokes while slung over Mike’s shoulder and Bill was fanning himself while Ben carried him bridal style.

Bev sighed, “children.” After ten peaceful minutes, Bill walked in and made himself a glass of orange juice. “Hey, we started up The Breakfast Club if you guys wanna come watch.”

Richie yelled from the other room, “hey Bevvie that’s you!” Beverly chuckled and got up to join them.

Eddie shook his head, “nah, I wanna finish baking these.”

Bill stood in the doorway and eyed Stan working on his sudoku. “What do you say?” Stan looked up at Bill who smirked at him, “come join us, _daddy_.” Stan sucked in a breath as Bill strolled away.

Eddie smiled confusedly, “is Bill drunk or something?” When he noticed Stan staring dumbfounded at the doorway, he walked over to shake his shoulder. “Well,” Eddie said expectantly, “go join them, I know you want to…” his eyes glanced down at Stan’s crotch, “maybe give it a minute though”.

At this, Stan seemed to return to himself and smacked Eddie’s arm, “I do not need a minute,” he rolled his eyes and they laughed. Eddie went back to the counter and after a few more moments Stan took deep breath and walked into the living room.

Eddie walked over the the radio and changed the channel until he heard the opening strumming to _Like a Prayer_. He started to move to the music as he continued to mix ingredients for another batch of brownies. His overbearing mom signed them up for their churches bake sale for four batches of homemade brownies, which means he was responsible for making them or else he would be chewed out for being disrespectful and lazy; but that doesn’t mean he can’t have a fun time doing it. He was really getting into the song when Richie walked in. He was amused seeing his boyfriend baking while dancing to Madonna, but then he appreciated how fucking adorable Eddie Kaspbrak was. He bit his lip as Eddie started lip singing and started twirling around. When he bent over to carefully place the pan into the oven and got sight of his boyfriend’s glorious ass, Richie lurched forward. He spun Eddie around and grasped his hands, making the smaller boy gasp.

“You couldn’t be more appealing to me if you tried,” Richie said with a big smile. Eddie blushed hard and looked at his feet. Richie spun him and they started dancing around the kitchen together, laughing. Eddie felt a tingle run down his spine at the look his boyfriend was giving him.

“I really have to finish doing this, Richie,” Eddie walked back to his place at the counter and shook his head to try and clear his thoughts of the dirty things he wanted to do to Richie… _Because I can’t, we’re at Bill’s house._  
He felt Richie walk up behind him, his hot breath on his neck.

_“I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing,”_

One of the things Eddie found the sexiest about Richie is his voice, and that extended to singing as well. Because, shit, could that boy sing. He sucked in a heavy breath as he felt the raven haired boy place his hands on his shoulders and slowly move downwards.

_“I have no choice, I hear your voice  
Feels like flying”_

He was hit hard with arousal. Richie towered over him as he slipped his hands down the back of his shorts.

_“I close my eyes, oh God I think I'm falling”_

Big, rough hands gripped his cheeks. He couldn’t help closing his eyes, as if following instructions, or stop the soft moan that slipped out of his mouth as Richie kneaded his ass firmly.

_“Out of the sky, I close my eyes  
Heaven help me”_

Richie slipped a finger between his cheeks to slowly trace circles over his hole. Eddie gripped the counter and arched his back into Richie, into his touch.

_“When you call my name it's like a little prayer”_

Richie pulled up his shirt so the skin on his back was exposed. He continued to sing as he traced his lips down Eddie’s body and knelt behind him.

_“I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there”_

Eddie was so far gone in his want that he let Richie slip his shorts and underwear down his legs, exposing his ass and achingly hard cock.

_“In the midnight hour I can feel your power”_

He felt his cheeks spread open, very exposed to his boyfriend and he was so lost in his voice, his smell, his hands, oh god, his tongue.

_“Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there”_

Richie’s warm, wet tongue lapped at his hole. Eddie gasped and rocked his hips backwards against his mouth. He felt vibrations and hot breath as Richie chuckled against him at his eagerness. Eddie Kaspbrak never does this. Hell, he knows he shouldn’t be doing this. But in that moment, he was under Richie’s spell; his friends be damned. A least if anyone walked in, they would have to go around the counter in order to see Richie tongue deep in his boyfriend.

Long, ringed fingers stroked his hips as he felt Richie breach his tight ring of muscle, moving slowly in and out of him. He moaned and started rocking himself back harder. The tall boy wasn’t having it. He gripped Eddie’s hip tightly in one hand and used the other to swiftly spank him.

Richie’s voice was rough and deep when he spoke, “Be a good boy for me, or I’ll stop. Keep still.”

Eddie whined and whispered softly, but clearly, “I’ll be good.” Sure to his word, he let Richie angle his hips for better access and stayed still as he plunged himself back in. _“Richie,”_ he breathed lustily. Richie hummed in arousal and started to palm himself through his jeans.

Its lucky Eddie is used to reacting to approaching footsteps when he is doing something he shouldn’t be, because Bill would have noticed immediately. Eddie schooled his face and went back to adding ingredients to the bowl in front of him. To his horror, and excitement, Richie didn’t slow down his movements inside Eddie.

“Hey Eddie, I wanted to talk to you about… Stan.” The brunette, having had conversations like this with Bill before, knew that this was Bill’s way to vent his confusion and nervousness and it didn’t require much of his attention.

“Sure, what ambiguous behavior are you trying to decipher now?” Bill fake laughed and proceeded to laugh into a story about an interaction he had with Stanley yesterday at lunch.

Meanwhile, Eddie stopped his movements to appear to be listening to Bill’s story, but he was actually trying not to cry out when Richie reached up and started to fondle his balls along with eating him out. Richie was really enjoying his boyfriend shaking against him in pleasure. He could easily swat him away and make him wait until they are alone for him to continue, but he was too into it to stop. Richie was hard with this thought and slipped his hands in his pants to start stroking himself.

Eddie casually slipped his hand behind his back to grab a fistful of Richie’s hair and give a wanting tug. He felt, rather than heard, Richie let out a little moan and start eating him out more forcefully. To Eddie’s credit, he did a masterful job of keeping a poker face and nodding along when he needed to to keep Bill talking.

He could feel his pleasure starting to build, and grabbed a paper towel that he pretended to wipe his hands with then covertly pulled it behind the counter to drop to Richie. The bespectacled boy got the message and was over the moon he was gonna make his boyfriend cum with just his tongue. It made him pump himself faster while he positioned the paper towel to catch Eddie’s climax.

Richie buried his tongue as far in as he could and, rather then moving in and out like he was previously, started to stroke around his insides. Eddie had to rest his head in his hand and cover his mouth in order to stop himself from cursing in pleasure.   
In a move that appeared like he was looking at rearranging his footing, Eddie got to glance down at his boyfriend. He saw Richie jerking himself off while he was tongue fucking his ass, and he was absolutely done for. He arched his back and silently came in Richie’s prepared hand. When the tall boy was sure Eddie had finished, he folded the paper towel and brought it down to his own dick. He buried his face between Eddie’s cheeks and stroked himself until he came. He bit into the flesh of his boyfriends ass to keep himself from groaning his name.

Eddie tuned back into Bill’s ramblings when he asked “so what do you think I should do?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “you know what I think you should do,” not even needing to hear the story to answer his question. He has told Bill on each of these occasions where he pined over Stan to stop torturing himself and ask him on a date. Make a move, and he will know what his feelings are. But Bill is, rightfully, very nervous, Stan is extremely hard to read and he doesn’t want to endanger the dynamic they have going with each other or the group if it ends poorly.

Richie tucked himself back into his pants and pulled Eddie’s shorts back up his hips, standing as he did so. Eddie froze and Bill looked at him confusedly until Richie crudely wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Eddie was red as a tomato and took a couple deep breaths before looking up at Bill, sitting across from him. Bill looked between the two boys, expressionless. He sported the dead pan look as he stood and walked out of the room, not saying a word.

Richie threw his head back and laughed hard, pulling Eddie into a tight grip when he started punching him in the arm. _“Richard Tozier._ That was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me. Why in god’s green earth would you let Bill know that you were there? Oh my god he totally knew what you were doing. Oh my god, he’s going to tell them what happened and they are gonna think I’m some kind of freak.” He buried his face in Richie’s chest and continued to hit him. Richie just gripped his face and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

Staring into his eyes, he ran his fingers back to tangle in Eddie’s hair, “I love you, and it’s going to be okay.” The younger boy felt Richie’s calmness and love wash over him, taking all the power away from his worry and embarrassment.

Eddie felt himself tear up a little, “I love you too,” he whispered softly, “you sex freak.” Richie laughed and picked Eddie up, carrying him into the living room. When they entered they saw Bill looking at them and trying to suppress a laugh. Clearly he didn’t say anything or their friends would be scolding them really hard right now. Richie smiled back and Eddie made a heart with his hands, both happy with how cool Bill was about the whole thing. The two settled in with the rest of their friends to finish the movie.

After Judd Nelson’s iconic fist bump and the rolling credits, the losers just layed around talking. “Who would be who in the breakfast club? Obviously, I’m Ringwald,” Bev chuckled and looked to Richie, remembering that insult all those years ago.

“Well, I would play opposite you as the criminal, _obviously_. Benny-boy would be our brain. Mike would be our athlete,” Richie thought out loud. Everyone nodded their general consensus.

Mike rolled onto his stomach to face the rest of the group, “I think Bill would make a good Mr. Vernon, not for the personality, but for the swagger it takes to rock a black and brown suit.”

Bill smiled, “I’ll take it. I think Stan would be the janitor, because he knows everything and he would probably look like a sexy mechanic in that outfit. That’s just a bonus”

Stan blushed and Eddie nodded, “he is the eyes and ears of this institution my friends.” He yelped as Richie jumped on him.

“That means you would be our resident basket case Mr. Kaspbrak.” He snuggled his face into Eddie’s neck, “Ally Sheedy was always my favorite anyway.” 

They were laughing and joking around when they heard a strong fist rap on the Denbrough’s front door. They all looked to their leader in confusion, because Bill’s parents weren’t supposed to be home until tomorrow evening. Bill shrugged his shoulders and untangled himself from his friends on the sofa to answer the door.

The losers were seemingly holding their breath, looking to the door, waiting for something bad to happen. Sure enough, when Bill swung open the door, an angry looking Alvin Marsh was standing there. A dark, ugly man whose very presence seemed out of place on that sunny day. He removed his sunglasses, staring down Bill with hatred in his eyes. “Bill, I’m looking for my daughter. I know she is here.”

At the sound of his voice, Bev immediately looked terrified, then quickly removed herself from Ben and cautiously approached the doorway. “Hey daddy, I told you I was going to be sleeping at a friends house today. What’s wrong?” Of course Bev knew she was in a shit load of trouble. Just like any other girl who casually left out the fact that the sleepover she was having was with boys and no parents would be present. It doesn’t matter if she was eighteen, Alvin Marsh will unjustly defend her innocence until she is long out of his life.

The only difference in this scenario is her dad wasn’t afraid to raise a hand to her when she does something wrong. Bev held her breath and waited for what she guessed would be a scathing and embarrassing answer.

_“Beverly,”_ he grits through his teeth, “what in the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing hanging out with a bunch of boys? And sleeping over with…” he did a cursory view of the living room, “six!! Six boys no less.”

Beverly started to tear up, cheeks burning with the implication her father was making. “No, daddy. Nothing like that has even happened, or will ever happen. These boys are my friends and they would never do anything like that. Don’t you trust me not to put myself in that kind of situation?” Her words were forceful and strong, but a tear was sliding down her cheek and her hands were shaking with the effort of standing up to her dad.

“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot Bev? I know what boys this age want!” his face was becoming flushed with anger.

“I’m sure you do, you fucking creep,” Richie hissed under his breath. The comment was enough to make Eddie jump to his feet and stomp right up to the three of them.

“Mr. Marsh, Bev is an extremely respectable young woman. It is incredibly insulting to hear you say something so vile about her. None of us would ever even _think_ of hurting her. She is my friend and I won’t listen to you, of all people, say horrible things like that about her.”

Everyone stared open mouthed at Eddie Kaspbrak, looking an abuser in the face and telling him off… and being respectful while doing it. Eddie had suffered a lot, having an assuming and controlling parent of his own. Seeing it happen to Beverly set him off. What they did not expect was for Mr. Marsh to laugh loudly in his face.

“Well, judging by the looks of you, I know for certain you aren’t interested in my daughter,” he sneered. He took a step into the threshold past a steaming Eddie to grab Bev roughly by the arm. “Cut the crap Bev, we’re leaving.” Everyone could see the way his fingers were digging in hard enough to leave bruises, hard enough that she couldn’t run away if she tried. Bill’s hand gripped his wrist in turn, stopping him from dragging her away. Bill was only an inch shorter than him, and gained quite a bit of muscle mass thanks to baseball, but most importantly, you don’t fuck with someone that he loves and he met Alvin Marsh’s glare with one of his own.

Before either could speak up, a deep and powerful voice spoke from the back of the living room. “You’re hurting her. Let go, now.” Marsh turned to meet the cold, calculating stare of Ben Hanscom. He stood from the sofa, not breaking eye contact. “I said, take your hands off of her.” Mr. Marsh was a bit taken back seeing the quiet anger of Ben Hanscom, someone he knew to be a kind, and reserved boy. He was also the biggest person in the room, besides maybe Mike, and Richie but only in height. Even Bill let go of the man’s wrist, trusting Ben to stop the situation.

“You think you little shits, you think you can tell me how to raise my daughter?”

“You’re doing a shit job, I think you need the advice,” Richie got up to stand next to Eddie, interlocking their fingers.

Marsh looked around, surveying the situation carefully before he spoke. “It looks like several of you need to be put in your places.” In a single second, he kicked the door closed with his foot, pushed Beverly to the side and grabbed a vase sitting on a table by the front door and smashed it over Eddie’s head. 

“No!” it happened so fast all Richie could do was catch his boyfriend before he hit the ground and pull him over to safety. If it took one second for Mr. Marsh to attack, Ben was on him the next second. They started grappling each other, knees bent and arms locked. Bill scrambled to swipe the remains of the vase out of the way so Ben didn’t cut his feet on any of the glass.

Bev thought about intervening but thought better of it and rushed over to Eddie to cup his face and try desperately to see if he was okay. “He’s okay, he didn’t even pass out, he is just dizzy” Richie breathed.

Stan and Mike got up and rushed to the room as soon as the fighting started and they stood with wide eyes, not knowing what to do to help.

Ben managed to slam Alvin up against the door, hitting his head for good measure. But he swiftly kneed Ben in the crotch, knocking the wind out of him and making him keel over. Then he kicked him in the face, making him fall onto his back.

Bev stood up, eyes flashing a blood red. Before her dad could get on top of Ben to land another blow, Beverly stepped up onto his path. She felt a lifetime's worth of anger, fear and dread rush to the surface of her skin, making it tingle with hatred. _“Stop!!”_ as she yelled, flames shot from her open mouth, singeing Mr. Marsh’s front and lighting his coat ablaze. She literally spit fire.

He spent three precious seconds staring at his daughter in bewilderment. By then the flames got bigger and he started screaming from the pain. He scrambled to unbutton his coat while Stan calmly walked forward and moved his hands like a conductor concluding a piece of music. Instantly the flames were extinguished. It was Stan’s turn to get a look of utter shock.

Stan shrugged, “no oxygen, no flame,” which resolved the confusion for his friends, but not for him, because fuck him.

Bev opened the door and gestured to Stan, who pushed his hand forward, throwing Mr. Marsh through the open door and onto the front lawn.

“I’m sleeping here tonight,” Bev’s tone was cold and authoritative. She closed the door on her charred and confused father and locked it with zero remorse.

When she turned back to her friends, Richie spoke up from the floor. “Whoa, red is badass Miss Marsh,” he gestured to his own eyes.

Beverly walked over to a hanging mirror and got a good look at herself. Sure enough, her normally cool blue eyes were a bright red. She took a deep breath, “I can’t think of a way to thank you guys for what you just did for me.”

Richie reached up and took her hand, “that was plenty.”

Bev examined her face, and felt a sense of conviction wash over her. “He is never going to put his hands on me again, and I am not going to be afraid of him. He can’t control me anymore. I am free, and I can stand up for myself now.”

Her friends looked at her with tears in their eyes , smiles on their faces, and heavy happiness in their hearts. Eddie stirred from his place in Richie’s lap and whispered in admiration, “the girl who played with fire.”


	6. Mike's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every chapter I write gets longer and longer. Let me know what your favorite part of the story is so far

**October 20, 1994**

 

_ *-ther two Derry establishments were burgled last night. The first being the quaint flower shop on Wickham street, then the bakery next door. It appears that the robbing took place late in the evening after the store owner’s had gone home and thankfully no one encountered these men. However, they did break the glass of both storefronts as a means of entering and emptied the contents of both registers. Since there were no eyewitnesses, there is no way to confirm whether these are the same three men that committed a similar crime last week. The police don’t have leads on either case so far.* _

 

The bell attached to the wall over the door dinged, signaling the loser’s entrance to the town’s Halloween store,  _ Boo’s. _ A woman at them from behind the counter, recognizing and greeting Mike by name, then went back to arranging things in the display case behind her. “She is a frequent customer at the farm,” Mike explained.

 

“Alright, point me to the sluttiest costumes!” Richie sauntered towards the back of the store. They were all on a mission to get costumes for the school’s Halloween party.

 

“Don’t worry Rich,” Bev shoved his arm, “you are always the sluttiest person at these parties regardless of what you wear.”

 

“Not this year big red, I will be with my man, and my man only.” Richie scooped Eddie up in his arms and planted a big kiss on his cheek, making a point that those days are behind him and he was totally whipped for this boy. Beverly smiled fondly at her grossly cute boys.

 

Ben snagged her hand and pulled her in the direction of the costume wall, “they have Peter Pan and Wendy Darling! I love that book! Would you be okay dressing as them?”  _ When you make that face, I will agree to anything. _ Ben was sporting a dopey, hopeful face waiting for Bev’s answer.

 

“That’s perfect, I like it. Plus, I’m already basically a pseudo mother to a bunch of boys anyway.”

 

Ben smiled wide, “you read it?”

 

Bev could feel herself blush, “yeah, it’s one of your favorites so I checked it out last year.” Ben looked out of breath for a second, then planted a kiss on his girlfriend’s cheek and grabbed a costume his size to try on. Beverly grabbed a Wendy in her size and followed him to the dressing room.

 

Eddie jumped up and down, “they have it! They have it!” He snagged The Bride costume from  _ Kill Bill _ . “It might not fit quite right cause its made for a woman,” he looked up at Richie, “you think Bev can tailor faux leather?”

 

“No idea babe. But let’s get you into that jumpsuit, my dick is very interested in seeing your faux leather clad ass.”

 

Eddie chuckled and swatted him, “you have to pick out a costume too.”

 

Richie eyed around, “they don’t have Lucy Lui! That puts a damper on our couples costume… I’ll come back out and find something in a minute, let’s go.” Richie dragged his protesting boyfriend to the fitting rooms.

 

That left Bill, Mike and Stan. “We could be the powerpuff girls?” Bill suggested.

 

“No,” Stan shut down immediately.

 

“I don’t know,” Mike mused, “I would make a pretty good buttercup.” He chuckled when Stan gave him a baffled look.

 

“We could be Gremlins.”

 

“No.”

 

“We could be the three blind mice.”

 

“No.”

 

“We could be the three musketeers.”

 

“N-... actually that one is not bad.”

 

“Really,” Bill raised his eyebrows, “I’m okay with that, they’re just pirates.”

 

Stan shook his head, “I’m not sure what they are, but they’re not pirates.”

 

Mike took it upon himself to ask the resident book expert. “Hey Ben!” he called into the fitting rooms.

 

“Yeah?” he yelled back.

 

“What are the three musketeers?”

 

“They’re basically guards, they protected the French king. They are famous for being very close. They were called ‘the three inseparables.’”

 

“Thanks babe!” Bill called to Ben jokingly. He didn’t notice, but it made Stanley blush.

 

Stan cleared his throat, “so I am on board with these, Mike you in?” Mike nodded and they each grabbed a costume to go try on.

 

Eddie did a little turn for Richie in the fitting room they were occupying, “it looks really good Eds.” Eddie would have normally playfully snapped at him for calling him Eds but he got distracted by the look Richie was giving him. It wasn’t hungry, it was genuine awe, staring up and down his body. Eddie could feel heat on his cheeks from the intense gaze.

 

Eddie broke the trance by sitting in Richie’s lap and giving him a kiss, “thank you.”

 

Ben knocked on the fitting room door that Bev was in, “hey I’m ready when you are.” The door immediately opened and they eyed each others costumes. Bev was in a white cotton nightgown and Ben in the standard Peter Pan outfit.

 

Bev started fiddling with the fabric at Ben’s shoulders, “I think you need the next size up to compensate for your shoulders,” she laughed. He blushed and shuffled out of the fitting room awkwardly, although he felt like he was on cloud nine, to go grab a bigger size.

 

He walked to the other side of the store, on a mission. He didn’t like being in the store, for no reason other than it’s creepy. The lighting was very dim, the isles were tightly packed, and not linear so he got a little turned around trying to find the correct costume stand, and the decorations were scary, and  _ everywhere. _ At one point, a motion censored clown jumped out at him and nearly knocked him on his ass from fear. He grabbed the decoration angrily and hit the switch to turn it off, watching the glowing eyes dim to make sure it did. He heard mocking laughter from behind him, and recognized the person by that alone.

 

Henry moved in close and squared his shoulders, giving Ben a quick once over. He seemed to be calculating whether it was worth it to torment him, because while they are the same height, Ben has got some muscle and 40 lbs on him. Those mornings getting up before school to go to the gym and lift some weights finally paying off as he sees Henry stare him down as an equal. Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone. He didn’t have to turn around to know that Belch and Victor were there. He watched Henry give them a sinister smile.

 

“What’s wrong tits? You scared of clowns,” he picked up the offending toy and shoved it in Ben’s face. “I remember when you used to run like a little girl when you saw us coming. Looks like you’re still scared of your own shadow.”

 

Ben angled his face away from the clown and looked at Henry, “what’s wrong with running like a girl?” he shrugs nonchalantly, and boy did that  _ piss _ Henry off. Not getting a rise out of Ben set him off internally. He wanted to feel powerful, he wanted somebody to fear him, he wanted to stand over them and look at them with indifference, the way his father looks at him. He decided he was going to get it one way or another.

 

He put the doll aside and reached for Ben’s shirt, “I always wondered if you got a scar from the time I carved you up. I’ve been meaning to finish that up, don’t want to leave and projects undone, you know.” Ben knocked his hands out of the way and Henry gave a nod to his friends. They stepped up and grabbed Ben by the arms, but not before he shoved Henry and sent him flying into the shelves behind him. There was a rough bang when his body hit, and Ben, having a soft heart, winced in sympathy.

 

Henry looked up at him with utter hatred in his eyes.  _ What the hell did I ever do to you? _   Ben thought incredulously.

 

_ There is no way I can get out of this by myself, and I cant use my powers in here _ , so Ben called for the strongest person he knows. “Bev!”

 

Henry gave him a look like he was crazy.  _ Underestimating Beverly is a mistake you probably won’t be making again after this. _ He smiled down at Henry until he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and flipped it open. “I hope your pain tolerance has improved since we were thirteen,” he pulled Ben’s shirt up and exposed the faint “H” scar that was left on his body from a similar situation five years ago. He managed to put the blade to Ben’s stomach and just break the skin before he heard someone call his name.

 

He turned around to a sight that will baffle his mind for years to come. Beverly stood a few feet away, face blank, fists clenched. Her eyes were a sinister blood red and small flames licked up the sides of her hair. Her hands started to glow a hot orange and she clenched them harder to try to keep it under control. “Let him go. Now.”

 

Henry blinked unbelieving and ultimately deciding that his mind was playing tricks on him or she was wearing some sort of light up costume. “Or what, babe?” he sneered condescendingly.

 

“Or I will burn this place to the ground and make sure you don’t get out when I do.” Beverly didn’t wait for another empty, teasing response from Henry. She held out her hand, glowing a harsh orange and it burst into flames. “I’m not asking again,” her voice was cold and final. You have three seconds before I light you on fire.”

 

“What the fuck is this!” Henry demanded. “First the fairy shocks me so hard my teeth rattle. Now you’re on fire… and you’re okay? How the fuck are you doing this?” He turns to his friends and starts to ask, “am I cr-?” but a streak of fire burst from Bev’s hand and landed on his shirt, setting it ablaze. Henry screamed in agony, pulling the burning clothes away from his body, Belch and Victor promptly dropped Ben’s arms in shock before swatting at the blaze with their clothed forearms, putting it out. Once that was done, they both ran from the store, not looking back to see if Henry was behind them.

 

Henry looked at his tattered shirt and back up, to see Ben and Bev strolling away, hand in hand. As he got up to leave he faintly heard Ben say “my hero,” and Beverly’s joyous laugh.

 

_ This is over freaks. Not by a long shot. _

 

Ben looked to see Bev’s eyes change back to their normal blue, “you looked like an angry angel. This might be weird, but you looked so powerful, and it was so beautiful.” Bev turned to him to see a look of utter sincerity, it made her heart stop and quicken at the same time. She had been disappointed by so many people in her life, she was overwhelmed to have someone who made her feel so loved, and safe, and free. She didn’t know why, but she burst into tears.

 

“Oh no, Bev I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset,” he grabbed her hands.

 

“You didn’t,” she shook her head and chuckled, embarrassed. “I guess I’m not really happy often enough, because I am now and I started crying.” Ben didn’t look at her with pity, he looked at her with pride written all over his face. He knows she was dealt a shitty hand in life, and knows that it has only made her stronger. He doesn’t want to fix her, he wants to make her happy.

 

They were embracing tightly when their friends walked out of the fitting rooms, costumes in tow.

 

Richie caught sight of Bev’s teary eyes and stopped dead in his tracks, “what happened?” His tone serious and concerned.

 

“Ben is so great, I don’t know how to handle it!” she joked.

 

Ben huffed a laugh, “she just fended off the Bower’s gang after they tried to finish their artwork.” he gestured to his front. “It was so awesome, I’ll tell you guys when we get to the diner.”

 

The diner was a place the losers love to hang out at and became a normal hangout place, right up there with the barrens and Bill’s basement. They trampled into the diner, happy and loud, as friends are when they are together. The owner, a petite woman in her late 50’s greeted them as them came in. The losers got to know her pretty well by frequenting her establishment often after school. “Susie! Looking as dashing as ever,” Richie called to her on the way to their favorite booth, shooting her finger guns and a big smile.

 

“You can’t sweet talk me into a free milkshake Tozier, I’m onto you,” she narrowed her eyes and shook her fist playfully.

 

“Beautiful  _ and _ smart. How did we get so lucky to have a cool gal like you in a town as shitty as this,” Richie swooned.

 

“Yeah, yeah” she laughed and shooed him towards their table.

 

After they settled in, they all decided to have milkshakes and Mike stepped up to the counter to order for them. “Hey Mikey, what can I get you kids?”

 

“I need seven shakes please. Four chocolate, two vanilla and one strawberry.”

 

Susie called into the kitchen “Maria, can you come man the counter for a few minutes please!” A girl around his age came through the swinging door. She had wavy brown hair cropped to her shoulders, big eyes and a shy smile. Mike was smitten pretty quickly.

 

“My daughter,” Susie gestured to Maria and smiled.  _ Come to think of it, she does look exactly like a youthful Susie. _ Maria, in lieu of no customers, started wiping down the counter starting at the side Mike was closest too.

 

Maria looked up when she felt eyes on her. Mike cleared his throat a little embarrassed. “You’re Mike right?” she asked softly.

 

Mike blinked in surprise, “yes. I’m sorry have we met before?”

 

She shook her head and looked a little embarrassed herself. “Oh, no, no. We go to school together, we’re in the same grade and I go to the schools football games, so I’ve seen you play.” She smiled and kept wiping down the counter as she continued, “mom likes to get her fruit for the diner fresh, so I run errands to pick up her orders from your farm often. I… uh, see you working out on the fields sometimes so I just remembered your face.”

 

Mike nodded his head in understanding, “well it’s a shame I can’t say the same,” he gave her a charming smile. “Maria…?”

 

“Fernandez,” she spoke a little louder, seemingly getting more comfortable.

 

“Maria Fernandez?” Mike gasped a tiny bit. “The Maria Fernandez that made that beautiful mural in the library?” Mike spent many hours in the library, using it as his safe space to read and unwind. His favorite spot is a comfy chair that sits facing a lovely painting of a meadow.

 

It was Maria’s turn to blink in surprise, “yes, I did do that.”

 

“Oh my goodness, that picture is beautiful. I love the subtle little rainbow and the animals that are hiding in the trees if you look hard enough. I  _ love  _ that painting, and since I’m in the library a lot I get to see it often. I saw your name signed on the bottom corner and I always wondered who Maria Fernandez was. I assumed it was some professional painter in town that the school commissioned or something. Who would have known someone so talented was in our school all along.” Mike kept gushing, “The painting makes me think of a fairy tale. It’s like everything is safe and happy there. I- uh- kind of use it as my happy place. You know, in your head when you’re having a bad day, or you just daydream about a place you want to be. That is my place.”

 

Maria stood wide eyed, staring at Mike for a couple silent seconds before regaining her composure. “Wow, I’ve never met a fan before…” she said cockily, then paused awkwardly, waiting for Mike to laugh. They stared at each other for a couple more seconds before they both burst out laughing.

 

“I guess that’s fair considering I went on a whole spiel about the mural,” Mike was trying to quiet down his laughter. It was was easy once he got lost in Maria’s laugh.  _ Wow, she has a beautiful smile. I gotta keep making her laugh. _ He started thinking about what Richie would say in a moment like this and only the raunchiest things were coming to his head. No way was he gonna go raunchy. As he was scrambling internally for something to say, Susie came back out carrying a tray of shakes.

 

“Alright Mikey, follow me,” Susie moved to the table the losers were sitting at. Before Mike turned to go, Maria got his attention “I’ll be doing the weekly run to your farm tomorrow afternoon. If I see you there, I’ll say hi this time.”

 

“Then I’ll make sure to be there,” he tried for another charming smile. He assumed he did it correctly by the way Maria’s face lit up.

 

“See you tomorrow, golden boy.”

 

“Tomorrow, painter girl.”

 

Mike cringed internally as he walked away,  _ I couldn’t come up with something more flattering? Come on, Mike. Think of something better to say next time. _

 

This is what Mike was thinking about as he rejoined the losers.

 

“Hey, Mike,” Ben poked his cheek, getting his attention, “you were acting all blushy over there. Who was that?”

 

“Wh- a person can’t act like a blush,” Mike digressed.

 

“You did,” Eddie smirked while sipping his milkshake.

 

“That was Susie’s daughter, Maria. She’s another customer at the farm… She is really nice. And talented,” Mike smiled to himself, which all the losers caught. “She did the painting in the library that I really like. And,” Mike raised his eyebrows at his friends, “shes gonna come by tomorrow to pick up produce.”

 

“Hell yeah! She wants Mikey’s m-!” Stan put his hand over Richie’s mouth. Richie promptly licked it, making Stan jump a little and wipe it on his shirt.

 

“Finish the joke Stan, say meat” Richie leaned into Stan’s space to whisper in his ear, “say it, say it, do it, say meat.” Stan rolled his eyes and eventually started chuckling a little at Richie’s antics, trying to push him away. Eventually, he gave in. Richie chuckled evilly.

 

“Stan,” Bill shook his head, “you were the best of us.” Everyone laughed as Stan put head in his hands.

 

The losers joked around for another hour before they started to head back to Mike’s farm. Mike’s grandfather lets them all sleep over in the barn some weekends, if the weather allows. What he doesn’t know is they don’t always stay there, often walking to the abandoned church a half mile behind the property to camp out and tell ghost stories. The only way Eddie and Stan would agree to camp there is if they brought tents, so there sleeping stuff wouldn’t get dirty, and the bugs couldn’t crawl on them while they’re sleeping. They even went as far as bringing cleaning supplies the last few times to clear the debris off an area of the floor and dust away any lurking cobwebs. No one argued with them, and they often helped.

 

The losers dropped their bikes in the grass next to the driveway, knowing to keep them out of the way of any transportation and/or farming vehicle.

 

Mike’s grandpa met them out on the porch. “Alright kids, Mikey has to feed the animals before it gets dark, then you all can have the run of the barn for the night.”

 

“Who wants to help me feed the chickens?” Mike asked.

 

Richie jumped, “me!”

 

They migrated around the house and across the field to get to the barn. Mike threw a big bag of seed over his shoulder then lead them over to the chicken coup. He gave them all a handful of feed to give to the chickens. Most of the losers bent down at the fence and called the chickens over. Richie, however, jumped the fence and plopped himself right in the middle of the coup. Three of the chickens were at his side immediately, eating from his open hand. He affectionately named them Eenie, Meenie, and Miney. He was stroking Eenie’s feathers when a rowdy chicken jumped up on his lap and climbed on his arm, pecking hungrily at the food.

 

“You must be Mo!” Richie laughed. He started to pet mo on the back when he turned around and nipped at his fingers. “Ow! Bad Mo! Bad Mo!” he shook the bird off his arm, dropping what was left of the feed. Richie got up and dusted himself off. “You’re more like a Stan,” he looked grumpily at the chicken. Actual Stan threw some feed at the lanky boy. “Hey!” Richie laughed, “you’re not disapproving my point.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Stan waved him off and went back to feeding the chickens. They couldn’t fly, but they were birds nonetheless, so Stan loved them. They seemed to like him too, nuzzling up to his hand even after he ran out of food.

 

Bill thought it was fucking adorable.

 

Mike came back to check on them, “so I fed the goats, you guys got the chickens. The cows just eat the grass but I want to check to make sure they’re all okay. If you’ll follow me,” he said in a tour guide tone. The cow pen was rather large, giving them a lot of space to move around and graze. Some of it was obstructed by apple trees, down by the side closest to the woods. They were planted there because the cows wouldn’t try to climb them and eat the apples like the goats would.

 

The losers all sat in the grass, watching as Mike made his rounds to each of the cows, petting them and giving them affection. The baby cow he even played with a little.

 

“Mike is such a good guy,” Bev said fondly. They all agree wholeheartedly.

 

They watched as Mike jogged up to them, “I can’t see Betsy, so I’m gonna go check down there by the orchard, she’s probably just sleeping in the shade or something.

 

Eddie stood up, “I wanna see a sleepy cow!” He and the rest of the losers went with Mike to find the unaccounted for cow.

 

They did find her, it was easy with the loud sounds she was making. What they weren’t expecting, was Patrick Hockstetter to be holding her by the ear, trying to cut it off with a small, dull knife. They could see she had a rope around her neck, securing her to a tree so she couldn’t run away, and there were a couple bloody cuts up and down her back where Patrick ran the blade over her skin. She was making loud sounds very close to groaning, clearly in pain.

 

No one had ever heard Mike yell so loudly, “PATRICK, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!”

 

Patrick stopped his torture at the loud noise. When he saw Mike and the losers, he gave them a disgusting, crazed smile. “Just having a little fun. Don’t worry Hanlon, I won’t kill it.”

 

Mike was seething, “ _ her. _ ” Suddenly, the ground shot up from in front of Patrick and plowed him in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him and he fell to his knees.

 

“What the fuck…?” he grumbled, trying to stand up. “Did you see that?” his eyes were huge with wonder.

 

“No, we didn’t,” Bill answered looking around at his friends, "did we guys?" They all shook their heads. “Now, go home.”

 

“Nuh uh,” Patrick shook his head. “I’m not done playing with it yet.” He grabbed Betsy by her bleeding ear and she let out another loud, low groan, “onc-...”

 

Before Patrick could finish, the ground punched back up to strike him in the crotch. He crumpled back down to his knees, clutching himself, face screwed in agony.

 

“I said,  _ her! _ ” Mike brought his foot down on the ground hard. At the same moment, the ground popped back up to hit Patrick square in the face. He fell backwards, now clutching his nose.

 

Mike strode over to him and bent down, grabbing his jaw with one hand. “ _ You _ are an  _ it _ .” He drove his fist into the ground, and a larger piece of earth under Patrick shot up, launching him clear over the property fence.

 

Mike stood his ground and stared down Patrick, hard. When he managed to stand, Mike barked “don’t let me catch  _ anywhere _ at  _ anytime _ again. Because next time I’ll make sure I break something. The losers could see a look of terror on Patrick’s face before he took off into the woods.

 

Mike untied betsy and and turned to face his friends. They noticed his eyes were a striking tan color, standing out starkly with his dark skin. Despite hit fit of rage they just witnessed, there was one thought permeating all of the losers minds,  _ Mike is such a good guy. _

 

He untied Betty from the tree and walked towards his friends, “so, you all ready to hike up to church point? After I take care of Betty of course” And they did. Not looking back, because what have they got to be scared of anymore?

 

Being able to fight for themselves is their new normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Indeed, Richie is last.


End file.
